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STEAMBOAT DISASTERS 



RAILROAD ACCIDENTS 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 



TO WHICH ARE APPENDED 



ACCOUNTS OF RECENT SHIPWRECKS, FIRES AT SEA, 
THRILLING INCIDENTS, ETC. 




REVISED AND IMPROVED, 

W of 




WORCESTER 

PUBLISHED BY WARREN LAZELL. 
1846. 






Sn ^ 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1842, 

By Dorr, Howland & Co., 

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of Massachusetts. 



STEREOTYPED BY 

GEORGE A. CURTIS, 

NEW ENGLAND TYPE AND STEREOTYPE FOUNDRY, 
BOSTON. 



PREFACE 



The object of the following pages is not only to 
preserve an authentic history of the many disasters 
that have occurred on our waters since the intro- 
duction of steam navigation, and, as far as practi- 
cable, the principal causes that led to such disasters, 
but also to perpetuate the memory of those who have 
been the innocent sufferers thereby, — whose graves 
are in the trackless deep, — and whose only monu- 
ments of recollection are in the feelings and hearts 
of their bereaved friends and relatives. 

There is nothing that more tends to excite feelings 

of interest in the human mind, — less imbued with 

self, and more productive of true compassion and 

charity, — than the perusal of the fate of those, who, 

fearless of the grasping waves that roll beneath, 

while trusting with full confidence to the care, the 

skill and experience of their fellow-men, and con- 
1* 



VI PREFACE. 

fiding in the strength of the frail bark that bears 
them on, have been suddenly plucked from their 
usefulness in society, or cut off in the midst of the 
enjoyments of life, — hapless victims, perchance, to 
the explosion of an overcharged boiler, as in the 
aggravated case of the Moselle, — or to an awful 
conflagration in the midst of the wide waste of 
waters, far removed from the utmost efforts of human 
aid, — as seen in the deplorable catastrophe that 
befell the Lexington. That heart must be callous, 
indeed, that turns not from scenes like these with 
awakened and better feelings, and, looking back 
on past sufferings as beyond the reach of help, 
extends not the hand of charity to relieve those 
of the present, — sufficient of which ever exist around 
us. 

The work is decidedly American, and comprises 
authentic accounts of nearly all the various disasters 
on steamboats and railroads that have occurred, 
during many years, throughout the United States. 
In reviewing its contents, it will be found, with but 
very few exceptions, that none of it has ever before 
been published in an embodied form, and, conse- 
quently, can be found in no other volume. 

And yet, though the many disasters by steam 
occupy a large portion of this volume, there is left 
space sufficient for interesting narratives of the recent 



PREFACE. Vll 

shipwrecks and fires at sea, — together with accounts 
of the great gales on the eastern coast of New 
England, in December, 1839, and a thrilling narrative 
of the burning of the light-house at Cape Florida by 
the Seminole Indians, written by the keeper, who 
was miraculously preserved, while on the summit 
of the blazing tower, from the raging fire on the 
one side, and the deadly rifles of the Indians on the 
other. 

The whole is embellished with many fine engrav- 
ings on wood ; in speaking of which engravings 
the compiler would remark, that they are considered 
by adequate judges to be of a high and spirited 
order, and therein, it is hardly necessary to men- 
tion, of a vastly different and superior character to 
those usually found in books of this description. 

In collecting the materials which form the body 
of the work, the compiler has been largely indebted 
to many of the various journals of the day for the 
principal facts contained therein. In preserving 
these facts, however, the language in which they 
were clothed has mostly been remodelled, — the ac- 
counts shorn of much that was unimportant, and 
otherwise condensed, — and, by culling from one 
source whatever seemed of interest, and so blending 
it with that of another which was imperfect in some 
of its details, he has been enabled to render a more 



Vlll 



PREFACE. 



full, connected, and interesting narrative of each. 
In doing this, he has also aimed to give to the whole 
a decidedly moral influence, by appropriate reflec- 
tions and remarks of his own, as well as by selec- 
tions from others, which he has introduced wherever 
it could be done with advantage, and where the 
peculiar circumstances of the narrative seemed to 
demand it. 




CONTENTS. 



STEAMBOAT DISASTERS. 

Page. 

./Etna, explosion of, in New York harbor, May 15, 1824, and 
loss of several lives, ....... 166 

Bedford, steamer, loss of, on the Missouri river, April 27, 
1840, 259 

Belle, burning of, on the Mississippi river, near Liberty, Illi- 
nois, November, 1839, 269 

Ben Sherod, destruction of, by fire and explosion, on the 
Mississippi river, May 8, 1837, with the loss of nearly two 
hundred lives, ......... 133 

Britannia, steam-ship, escape of, from the rocks and breakers 
off the harbor of Halifax, during a fog, May 19, 1841, . 272 

Bunker Hill, loss of, on Long Island Sound, November 15, 
1841, . . . . ' . . . . . .268 

Chariton, explosion on board of, near St. Louis, July 27, 
1837, . . . .171 

Charleston, steam-packet, thrilling narrative of the escape 
from being wrecked, during the same storm in which the 
steamer Home was lost, ....... 50 

Columbia, steamer, wrecked upon Black Ledge, Seal Island, 
during a fog, July 2, 1843, 280 

Constitution, steamer, escape of, in a tremendous gale, on 
Lake Erie, October, 1837, 99 

Dubuque, explosion on board of, on her passage from St. 
Louis to Galena, August 15, 1837, 269 

Erie, steamer, conflagration of, on Lake Erie, while on her 
passage from Buffalo to Chicago, August 9, 1841 ; by which 
awful calamity nearly two hundred persons perished, . 239 

Flora, accident on board of, on her passage from Louisville 
to Wheeling, on the Ohio river, November 17, 1836, . 263 

Franklin, steamer, explosion of, at Mobile, March 13, 1836, 265 

General Jackson, loss of, a New York steam ferry boat, 
August 23, 1836, 170 

George Collier, explosion on board of, on the Mississippi 
river, near New Orleans, May 6, 1839 ; by which twenty- 
six lives were lost, . . - • 169 



X CONTENTS. 

Grampus, explosion of, May 13, 1840, .... 270 
Greenfield, explosion of, May 18, 1840, .... 260 
Green River, steamer, loss of, April 22, 1840, . . . 262 
Helen M'Gregor, explosion of, February 24, 1830, . . 127 
Home, steam-packet, wreck of, on her passage from New 
York to Charleston, October 9, 1837 ; in which nearly one 

hundred persons perished, 13 

John Hancock, explosion of, in 1817, 259 

Lexington, conflagration of, on her passage from New York 
to Stonington, on the night of January 13, 1840 ; by which 
melancholy occurrence nearly one hundred and fifty persons 

perished, 187 

Mary Express, steamer, loss of, April 29, 1840, . . 265 

Mississippi River, disasters on, . . . . . . 369 

Monmouth, steamer, loss of, on the Mississippi river, October 
31, 1837; by which melancholy catastrophe three hundred 

emigrating Indians were drowned, 97 

Moselle, steamer, explosion of, at Cincinnati, April 26, 1838 ; 

by which more than two hundred persons lost their lives, . 114 
Motto, explosion on board of, August, 1836, . . .261 
New England, explosion of, at Essex, Conn., October 7, 

1833, on her passage from New York for Hartford, . . 155 
New England, loss of, on her passage between Boston and 

Bath, May 31, 1839, 164 

North Carolina, loss of, while on her passage from Wil- 
mington, N. C, to Charleston, S. C., July 25, 1841, .255 
Odd Fellow, loss of, a miniature steamer, November 6, 1841, 268 
Oronoko, explosion on board of, April 21, 1838, . . . 172 
Persian, steamer, explosion of, on the Mississippi river, while 
on her passage from New Orleans to St. Louis, November 
7, 1840 ; by which fatal occurrence upwards of nineteen 

lives were lost, 253 

Phoenix, conflagration of, Sept. 5, 1819, .... 236 

President, steam-ship, which was probably lost in the storm 
of March 12, 1841, between Nantucket Shoals and George's 
Bank ; having on board upwards of one hundred human 
beings, . . . . . . . . . . 175 

Pulaski, steam-packet, loss of, on her passage from Charles- 
ton to Baltimore, June 14, 1838 ; by which disastrous event 

nearly one hundred lives were lost, 59 

Royal Tar, conflagration of, on her passage to Portland, Oc- 
tober 25, 1836 ; having on board a menagerie of wild animals, 103 
Samson, steamer, accident on board of, July 4, 1839, . . 267 
Savannah, steam-packet, loss of, from a leak, off Cape Hat- 
teras, during a gale, while on her passage from Savannah 

to New York, November 28, 1841, 275 

Tiskilwa, steamer, loss of, April 18, 1837, .... 174 



STEAM-PACKET HOME. 23 

hand-pumps and bailing. About 8 o'clock, P. M., 
Mr. Hunt came to me at the wheel-house, and told 
me that the ' furnace fires were out, 5 

" All hope was now abandoned of making a harbor 
under the lee of Hatteras ; and our only alternative 
was to run her on shore, for the purpose of saving our 
lives. I then directed the mate to have the square- 
sail set, to press her in to the land. In a few minutes 
the lee leach of the square sail split from foot to head, 
and it was lowered down. The vessel being water- 
logged, we consequently made but slow progress 
towards the shore. ^The weather became more mod- 
erate. Shortly after, I went below to my room and 
put on my pea-jacket ; went aft, and saw them bail- 
ing and pumping. Whilst passing among the pas- 
sengers, some of them asked me if there was a proba- 
bility of their being saved. I replied, that I feared 
the chance was but small ; as the boats would be of 
no service, and that there must be a heavy surf run- 
ning on the beach which we were approaching. I 
then walked to the after starboard quarter-deck, and 
hove the lead, and found nine fathoms water ; I laid 
the lead in, and remained by the rail, thinking of our 
condition, and calculating our chances for our lives. 
I now went forward, and, in passing the dining-room 
(which was on deck and over the after cabin) door, 
saw the ladies and many of the gentlemen sitting in 
there, and in great distress and anxiety. This was 
the last time I went aft, on the lower deck. I then 
passed on by the entrance to the after cabin ; I found 
the stairway completely occupied with men in pass- 
ing up water. I then passed forward, and went up 
to the wheel-house: by this time we were not far 
from the shore. 

"About 10 o'clock, Mr. Matthews, then standing on 
the lower deck, asked me if I meant to put her head 
on ; I answered, c Yes, certainly.' Some one now 
ran forward, and called out that the water was over 
the cabin floor. Captain Salter cried out, ' Bail away, 



24 STEAMBOAT DISASTERS. 

«. 

bail away, boys.' Captain Salter also asked Mr. 
Matthews if the boats were all clear,that they might be 
all lowered away without confusion, after she struck. 
Mr. Matthews said, l The boats are all ready.' We 
now made the breakers on the starboard bow, and 
ahead. Mr. Matthews was standing forward, and 
said, 'Off the starboard bow it looks like a good place 
to beach her.' I ordered Trost, the man at the helm, 
to port his helm ; and said to him, ' Mind yourself ; 
stand clear of that wheel when she strikes, or she 
will be breaking your bones;' he answered, 'Yes. 
sir, I'll keep clear.' 

1 ' The boat immediately struck on the outer reef, 
slued her head to the northward ; the square sail 
caught aback ; she heeled off shore, exposing the deck 
and upper houses to the full force of the sea. The 
square-sail halyards were let go, but the sail would 
not come down, as it was hard aback against the 
mast and rigging ; it had previously been split, and 
was now blown to ribbons. The passengers, ladies 
and gentlemen, placed themselves along the in-shore 
side of the boat, seeking protection from the breaking 
of the sea. At this time, Mr. Matthews came up to 
me, on the upper deck, and asked me if I was going 
in the boats. I replied, 'No; I think there is no pos- 
sibility of any person being saved in them, but you 
had better go aft and see to the launching them.' 
He went aft, on the upper deck, and I saw them 
launching the large boat off of it. The larboard 
quarter-boat having been lowered before and upset, 
they succeeded in getting the large boat alongside; 
many of the passengers, and both mates, got into her, 
several others clinging to her gunwales; she upset 
before she had gone ten yards from the vessel. The 
starboard quarter-boat had been previously stove, as 
well as the houses and bulwarks on that side. I went 
forward, pulled off my pea-jacket, vest, and boots, and 
threw them into the door of the wheel-house; then 
went a few feet aft, unshipped a small ladder, found 



CONTENTS. XI 

Union, explosion on board of, July 12, 1837, . . 266 

Washington, burning- of, on Lake Erie, June 16, 1838 ; with 

the loss of many passengers, 150 

Wilmington, explosion on board of, November 13, 1839, . 258 



RAILROAD ACCIDENTS. 

On the Boston and Providence railroad, June 29, 1836, . . 292 
On the Boston and Worcester railroad, November 30, 1839, . 302 
On the railroad at Bridgeport, Conn., March 15, 1840, . . 295 
On Camden and Amboy railroad, March 2, 1836, . . . 294 
On Columbia railroad, Ohio, October 2, 1836, . . . 296 
Explosion on Harlaem railroad, in New York city, July 4, 

1839, . . . . 298 

On the Lowell and Nashua railroad, July 5, 1841, . .291 

On New Jersey railroad, August 16, 1837, .... 294 
On Portsmouth and Roanoke railroad, August 11, 1837, . 285 
On Philadelphia and Germantown railroad, .... 302 
On Philadelphia and Columbia railroad, .... 303 

On the Western railroad, January 17, 1840, . . . 304 



SHIPWRECKS, FIRES AT SEA, &c. 

Shipwreck of the Bristol, near New York, November 21, 

1836 ; in which upwards of sixty lives were lost, . . 322 
Encounter of the ship Byron, and narrow escape from an ice- 
berg, August 3, 1836, 328 

Conflagration of the Burlington, March 17, 1840, . . 332 
Burning of the packet-ship Boston, May 25, 1830, . . 393 
Wreck of the Catherine Nichols, December 15, 1839, . 387 
Wreck of the Deposit, at Ipswich, December 15, 1839, . 388 

Wreck of the brig Ellsworth, February 20, 1837, . . 322 
Wreck of the brig Escambia, March 25, 1840, . . .352 
Encounter of the Gov. Carver, and remarkable escape from 
an iceberg, May 29, 1818, . ... . .353 

Shipwreck of the Glasgow, February 15, 1837, . . . 354 
Conflagration of the Harold, October 26, 1839, . . .357 
Wreck of the schooner Isabella, November 1, 1837, . .317 
Wreck of the barque Lloyd, December 23, 1839, . . .326 
Wreck of the barque Mexico, January 2, 1837, . . .307 



Xll CONTENTS. 

Wreck of the schooner Mary, September 14, 1837, . . 320 
Wreck of the schooner Pennsylvania, September 16, 1837, 325 
Conflagration of the Poland, May 18, 1840, . . .334 

Wreck of the brig Pocahontas, December 23, 1839, . . 390 
Interesting narrative of the escape of the TJ. S. ship Peacock 
from shipwreck, September 21, 1835, . . . .401 

Wreck of the brig Regulator, February 5, 1836, . . 315 

Preservation of the crew of the Scotia, December 5, 1839, . 361 
Wreck of the brig Trio, February 20, 1837, . . .319 

Wreck of the brig Tariff, March 26, 1840, . . .351 

Shipwrecks and other disasters in the vicinity of Boston, and 

Cape Ann, in the gale of December 15, 1839, . . . 364 

Disasters in Boston harbor, December 15, 1839, . . . 365 

Disasters in Gloucester harbor, December 15, 1839, . . 367 

Disasters at other places on the shores of New England, in the 

same gale, — at Newburyport, Marblehead, Cohasset, and 

Provincetown, . . - . . . . . . 377 

Another disastrous gale, December 27, 1839, — its effects at 
Boston, Charlestown, Newburyport, Gloucester, Salem, and 

Provincetown, . . . 379 

An aggregate of the loss of life and property on the coast of 
New England, during a part of the months of December, 
1839, and January, 1840, . . . . . .392 

A thrilling description of the burning of the light-house on 
Cape Florida, July 23, 1836, 405 



STEAMBOAT DISASTERS 




LOSS OF THE STEAM PACKET HOME, 

On her Passage from New York to Charleston, 
October 9, 1837, by which Melancholy Occur* 
rence Ninety-Five Persons perished, 

An occurrence so awful as the loss of the steam 
packet Home, excites in the mind of the civilized and 
humane community a most intense and painful in- 
terest. In a vessel for passage, whole countries are 
represented among those who have trusted their lives 
upon the deep, divided from eternity by a single 
plank, and directly committed to His providence who 

2 



14 STEAMBOAT DISASTERS. 

holds the waters in the hollow of his hand ; but who 
sometimes sees fit, for purposes in his dispensation 
beyond the ken of mortals, to visit the wanderer upon 
the deep with sudden and awful death. 

The loss of a vessel engaged in the common pur- 
suits of commerce, with no more souls on board 
than are requisite to her guidance and management, 
is a painful event, which calls forth the commisera- 
tion of all to whose ears the tidings are borne. The 
parents, the wives, and the children, whose hopes 
and whose dependence are all embarked with "them 
that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in 
great waters," are stricken to the earth by the tidings 
of their loss ; but the great public can only pity the 
little circle of mourners, without sharing their sor- 
rows. Not so, when, from the climes of the sunny 
south — from the towns and cities of the north — from 
the valley of the father of waters, and from the cities 
on the seaboard, a company are gathered together, it 
would seem for destruction, as in the case of the ill- 
fated boat of whose loss we speak. The funeral wail 
rises from one extremity of the country to the other — 
every state, and almost every community, has a claim 
to assert in the loss of persons connected by ties of 
blood, of friendship, or of business. The awful real- 
ities of the dangers to which a large portion of the hu- 
man family is daily exposed are brought home to every 
bosom ; and the sympathies of the whole public are 
touched. It is the intense interest felt in the fate of 
the Home, that has induced us to present to the 
public as full and accurate an account of the disaster 
as we have been able to glean from the various 
sources at our command. 

The steam packet Home was launched in April, 
1836, and finished in January, 1837. Her length on 
deck was about two hundred and twenty feet, with 
twenty- two feet beam, twelve feet depth of hold: and 
measuring five hundred and fifty tons burthen. That 
she was not the kind of vessel to withstand the tern- 



STEAM PACKET HOME. 15 

pestuous gales of the Atlantic, has proved fearfully 
true. We have no evidence that, in her model or 
timbers, any reference was had to a capacity for en- 
countering the perils of the ocean ; but candor com- 
pels us to say that her model, the time of her lying 
unemployed, and other circumstances, induce the 
conviction that she never was intended for a sea boat. 
If she was so intended, then those who had charge of 
her construction should never again attempt to plan 
a vessel. ■ In the minor points of elegance and con- 
venience, — minor compared with the great conside- 
ration of safety, — the Home was all that could have 
been wished, and would have made an elegant and 
safe steamer for the river, or the summer navigation 
of the sound. She was calculated to accommodate 
one hundred and twenty persons with berths, or state 
rooms. In her appointments and finish, she ranked 
with the "floating palaces" for which our American 
waters are famed ; and in speed, another character- 
istic of American ship-building, she was unsurpassed. 
Her second passage to Charleston was made in 
sixty-four hours — a shorter passage than was ever 
made before by any vessel. Communication with 
Charleston was regarded as almost as direct as that 
with the nearer cities, which are brought within a 
day's travel by steamboat and railroad. Numbers 
who, under other circumstances, would hardly ven- 
ture upon a journey from one city to the other, were 
induced, by the rapidity and comfort of the convey- 
ance, to make the jaunt ; and circumstances had war- 
ranted us in supposing that the north and south were 
thus to be connected by the annihilation of distance ; 
and pride in our national enterprise and resources 
pointed exultingly to the fact, that a distance which 
had occupied our ancestors weeks in its passage, could 
now be compassed in less than three days. It was 
even hinted, after she teas finished, that the Home 
would essay a trip across the Atlantic, in advance of 
the completion of a line of packets designed for that 



16 STEAMBOAT DISASTERS. 

great route. The public mind anticipated great 
things from the success of the first trips of the new 
and splendid vessel ; and became so much familiar- 
ized with the subject of ocean steam communication, 
and so devoid of fear as to its danger, that the whis- 
per of apprehension was met with a reproving smile. 

It was on the 7th of October, 1837, that the steam 
packet Home, under the command of Captain Carle- 
ton White, left New York for Charleston, S. C, on 
her third trip. Owing to the speed of the- boat, her 
very excellent, accommodations, and the high charac- 
ter of the captain as a commander, the number of pas- 
sengers who started in her on this, her last and ill- 
fated voyage, was very great. She had on board, as 
near as could be gathered from her berth-book, and 
judging also from the numbers who took passage at 
the last moment, without previously securing berths, 
ninety passengers. Her crew, including officers and 
servants, male and female, numbered forty-jive, com- 
prising in all about one hundred and thirty-five souls ; 
among whom were between thirty and forty females. 

Gentlemen from the north going south, and south- 
ern gentlemen returning from excursions of business, 
pleasure, or health, at the north ; ladies impatient to 
return to the friends from whom circumstances had 
separated them, buoyant with hope, and confident of 
safety and a quick passage from the reputation which 
the packet had thus early acquired ; children, trust- 
ing in their parents, and willing to leave to them all 
questions as to danger or safety, — a happier company 
never assembled together. It seemed more like a de- 
parture upon a pleasure excursion, than the commence- 
ment of what was once deemed a serious voyage. 
With hope elate, and with the sorrow of parting with 
friends here swallowed up in joyous anticipation of 
meeting others at the end of a short and pleasant 
passage, the passengers on board the Home bade 
adieu to New York. Little did they dream that the 
adieus made were their last, or that those who looked 



STEAM PACKET HOME. 17 

at them while leaving port, M should see them no more 
forever." 

The weather was fine, with a light breeze from the 
south-west, and the packet proceeded gaily on her 
way till she had passed the Narrows. The buoyancy 
of hope was somewhat depressed, and the conscious- 
ness of security rather enfeebled, when the vessel, 
very soon after, was found to be aground upon the 
Romer shoal, where she remained three or four hours. 
The accident was occasioned by mistaking one of the 
buoys, designating Captain Gedney's new channel, 
for the buoy on the Romer. It was thought that the 
boat had sustained no injury by the accident ; but 
escape from all injury we conceive could hardly have 
been possible. 

We give the following extract from a detailed ac- 
count by Captain White, published shortly after the 
occurrence of the disaster : — 

" On leaving my office, after examining the list of 
passengers, I found that the boat headed off to the 
eastward, and the headway nearly stopped. I then 
ran up to the man at the wheel, and ordered the helm 
hard a-port ; he answered, ' The helm is hard a-port, 
sir, but she won't mind her helm.' By this time the 
boat had entirely stopped on the Romer shoal ; the 
ebb tide setting strong to the eastward, and a light 
westerly wind, to which cause I attribute the ground- 
ing of the boat. At this time the engine was working 
forward. The engineer inquired whether he should 
continue to work her so or back her off. I ordered 
him to keep on, under the impression that she was so 
near the eastern edge of the shoal that she would go 
over ; but finding she did not go ahead, I ordered him 
to back her off; at the same time ordered the wood 
and cable to be shifted to the larboard side, in order to 
list the boat ; in backing her, found she slued a little, 
but would not work off the shoal. There was now 
no alternative but to remain until the tide rose. 

2* 2 



18 STEAMBOAT DISASTERS. 

" The passengers, at tea, made many inquiries as to 
any danger from being aground ; apprehended none 
myself, as the water was entirely smooth, and the 
wind light. I endeavored to make them easy. 
About 7 o'clock, P. M., were boarded by a Sandy 
Hook pilot, who coincided in the opinion that the boat 
could receive no injury where she lay, until she should 
float. He inquired if he could be of any service ; I 
replied, that, as he was on board, I preferred that he 
should remain until we had passed the Hook. At 
half past 10 o'clock, P. M., the tide having risen, 
the square-sail was hoisted and laid aback; we 
started the engine, and succeeded in backing her off, 
having the flood tide to aid us. 

" We then proceeded on our course past the Hook ; 
and, about a quarter past 11 o'clock, the pilot left 
us for town. T^he boat and machinery appearing to 
be in good order, we made rapid progress, and were 
abreast of Barnegat light on Sunday, between 4 
and 5 o'clock, A. M. We continued with fine wea- 
ther until towards noon, when the wind hauled 
north-east, with indications of a storm. In the after 
part of the day the wind increased, occasioning a 
heavy sea. Between 7 and 8 o'clock, P. M., Mr. 
Hunt, the chief engineer, informed me that the feeder- 
pipe of the forward boiler had opened at the joint, 
so that it forced more of the water into the hold 
than into the boiler ; consequently, there was not a 
supply for that boiler : we then run with one boiler, 
and set the square-sail. I inquired if he could repair 
the pipe at sea ; to which he answered that it was 
possible, if we kept the vessel off before the wind and 
sea. I accordingly put her before the wind, which 
both eased the vessel and enabled me to near the 
mouth of Chesapeake Bay, in case it should become 
necessary to make a harbor. About midnight, the 
chief engineer reported to me that he had succeeded 
in repairing the feeder-pipe ; and then we again put 
both boilers in operation, and resumed our course for 



STEAM-PACKET HOME. 19 

Charleston, continuing, occasionally, to heave the lead, 
shoaling the water gradually, from twenty to eleven 
fathoms. When we got into eleven fathoms, at 4 
o'clock, A. M., the mate and his watch were called; 
we took in the square sail, and hauled her course to 
south-south-east, this being the course along the land; 
we continued this course until 7 o'clock, at which 
time it lighted up a little, and we saw the land about 
fifty miles to the northward of Hatteras. The gale 
continuing to increase, I ordered the second mate, 
Mr. White, to reef the jib and foresail, to have them 
ready for use if we should want them. At about 9 
o'clock, A. M., on Monday, the second engineer, Mr. 
Conro, came to me at the wheel-house, and reported 
that the boilers had given out, and said, ' We can do 
nothing more for you with steam.' 

" The land being then in sight, I ordered the jib 
and foresail set, and headed the vessel in for shore, 
with the intention of beaching her. I ordered the 
reef turned out of the foresail, and then went down 
to the chief engineer, Mr. Hunt, in the engine-room, 
and asked him whether the boilers had indeed given 
out; he replied, 'No, it is the feeder-pipe,' which 
had again started ; and that the report of the second 
engineer arose from a mistake of the fireman. Mr. 
Hunt having c woulded' the joint again, I asked him 
whether it would stand to work the boat off shore ; 
he answered, yes, that he thought it would. I then 
ordered him to fire up, and to get more steam on, to 
force her off shore; I then returned to the wheel- 
house, and ordered the foresail taken in, and again 
hauled the vessel off shore to resume our former 
course. Before we got to the Wimble Shoals, when 
I was at the wheel-house, I observed Mr. Lovegreen 
(a passenger) very busy about the small boat on the 
after upper deck. I went aft to see what he was do- 
ing ; he told me he ' was getting the boats ready for 
launching, in case we should want them, and was 
fixing life-lines, and lashing the oars in the boat' I 



20 STEAMBOAT DISASTERS. 



said, c "Very well, sir, but cast off none of the lash- 
ings' 

"In consequence of running in, for the purpose of 
beaching her,, as above stated, we were brought with- 
in the Wimble Shoals. In passing these shoals we 
received the shock of three heavy rollers on our lar- 
board beam, which stove in our after gangway, sev- 
eral of the larboard state-room windows, and one of 
the dining-room windows. Mr. Matthews, about this 
time, remarked, ' We are through this.' I answered, 
1 Yes, we are over that part of it, 1 meaning the passing 
of the shoals. Captain Hill, a passenger, came to the 
forward deck, and hailed me, to know whether ' we 
had not better knock away the forward bulwarks, 
that the sea might have a fair breach over her,' as he 
was afraid that we might ship some of those seas and 
fill the deck and cabin. I told him there was no ne- 
cessity for it, as some of the boards had already been 
burst off; however, I had no objection to his knocking 
off some more, if he chose to do it; he did knock off 
some of the boards, and, with the assistance of the 
steward, Mr. Milne, unshipped the starboard gangway. 

" During this time, our course was south-south-east 
to south-east; and, finding the vessel pressed too 
much to leeward, I ordered the jib to be taken in. 
About this period, Captain Salter, of Portsmouth, 
N. H., a passenger, came on the forward deck and 
hailed me, I being at the wheel-house on the upper 
deck, and said, ' Captain White, had not some of us 
better look out for some place to beach her % ' I an- 
swered, ' No, Captain Salter, I do not intend to beach 
her yet, nor as long as I can keep off shore.' He 
expressed his surprise, and replied, ' No ! Do you 
think you can work her off?' I answered, 'Yes.' 
Between 2 and 3 o'clock, P. M., Mr. Hunt, the engi- 
neer, sent to the wheel-house for me ; I went to the 
engine-room; he told me that 'the boat had com 
menced leaking badly.' I asked if it were not possi- 
ble to keep her free with the engine-pumps. He said, 



STEAM-PACKET HOME. 21 

4 You had better send men to the hand-pumps, and 
perhaps we may then keep her free.' I ordered the 
mate to send men to the pumps, which was immedi- 
ately done. I then returned to the wheel-house. 

"About this time Captains Salter and Hill came on 
the forward deck, and asked me if I would not get a 
light, and go down with them and try to find the 
leak. I ordered a lantern and marlinsfike, which 
were brought. I then went down into the forward 
cabin with them, took up the floor scuttles, went 
down into the hold, found no water over the platform, 
broke some holes in the platform with the marlin- 
spike, and then found no water. Whilst in the fore- 
hold, Captain Salter remarked, that the boat i was 
ceiled with nothing but thin, common pine plank, 
whereas she should have been ceiled throughout with 
seven inch oak timber, champered down to the edges/ 
We then returned to the deck, and went to the after 
cabin, where they proceeded to open the scuttle, and 
I returned to the wheel-house. I now ordered the 
mates to set the crew to bailing from the engine-room. 
The passengers now scuttled the after-cabin floor, and 
commenced taking out the coal for the purpose of 
bailing, as they had previously found water aft. At 
this time the water was gaining on the pumps ; some 
of the passengers and waiters went on to bailing from 
the after-cabin. The water, in front of the furnaces, 
having risen several inches in depth, washed the 
coals about, by the rolling of the vessel, rendering it 
impracticable to feed the fires with coal. I therefore 
directed the mate to have wood passed along, as we 
would keep steam up altogether with wood ; which 
we continued to burn until the water quenched the 
fires in the furnaces. About 3 o'clock, P. M., Captain 
Salter again came to the forward deck, and said, 
1 Captain White, we had better go around Hatteras 
Shoals, and not attempt to go through inside.' 

" Whilst the passengers and crew were at work 
with the pumps and buckets, I frequently went down 



)S& STEAMBOAT DISASTERS. 

to see that they continued at work. In passing the 
engine-room I remarked to Mr. Hunt, ' If we can 
keep the water down, so as not to reach the furnaces, 
I think we will go round the shoals; as the risk 
would he greater in going inside.' My reason for this 
conclusion was, that if, in an attempt to pass inside, 
with such a heavy sea and thick weather, the vessel 
should striRe, probably every life would be lost. I 
again went up to the wheel-house, and Mr. Matthews 
asked me, 'if I was going round the shoals.' I an- 
swered in the affirmative. Captain Salter now came 
forward and said, l it was the best way to track the 
shoals around by the lead.' We had all along been 
occasionally heaving the lead, and had from nine to 
eleven fathoms water. I continued to run so as to 
pass the outer shoal, until I deepened the water from 
eleven to twenty fathoms, and hauling up her course 
gradually to the south-west, until we judged our- 
selves round the shoals ; then hauled up by degrees 
until we brought her up to a north-north-west course, 
for the purpose of getting under the lee of the shoals, 
believing that, as we got into smooth water, the leak 
would decrease, and that we should be enabled to run 
up under the lee of Cape Hatteras. The leak con- 
tinued to gain upon us, and I soon after altered our 
course to north-west, and ordered the jib to be set. 
After heading her for the land, at the solicitation of 
Mr. Matthews, I left him in charge, and went to my 
room to get some rest. I examined one of my charts, 
threw off my wet coat, sat down on my trunk, and 
leaned my head against the berth ; but, after remain- 
ing some time, found it impossible to get any rest. I 
went on deck and proceeded aft, where I found the wa- 
ter was fast gaining on us. I then went to the wheel- 
house and took my trumpet ; the crew and passengers 
being still occupied in bailing and pumping, and the 
engine-pumps working ; although these often had to 
be cleared of the shavings, &e., which the suction 
drew in; but we had to depend mostly upon the 



STEAM-PACKET HOME. 25 

a strand of rope lying on the deck, made one end of 
it fast around the middle step, took the other end 
around my hand, then placed myself on the forward 
part of the upper deck, took hold of a chimney-brace 
with the other hand, awaiting the event of the break- 
ing up of the vessel. 

" About the time I went aft, as above stated, the 
mast had gone about twenty feet from the head. The 
boat was now fast breaking to pieces — the dining- 
cabin gone — the starboard state-rooms all stove in — 
the upper deck breaking up. Whilst standing with the 
ladder in my hand, Mr. Hunt came up to me. I said, 
' Mr. Hunt, we little thought this would be our fate 
when we left New York.' I shook hands with him, 
and added, ' I hope we may all be saved.' He turned 
and went to the gallows frame, where there were 
many others collected with him. The forward smoke 
chimney fell in shore, across the side houses on the 
upper deck, close by where I was standing. Mr. 
Holmes, a passenger saved, was standing by me with 
a piece of board and rope, prepared to jump. The 
most of the passengers, who had placed themselves 
along the guards, had, by this time, been washed off; 
their shrieks and cries, during this time, were appall- 
ing and heart-rending beyond description. The deck, 
on which Mr. Holmes and myself were standing, was 
breaking up ; we threw away our ladder and board, 
simultaneously, and jumped off the deck, and made 
for the top-gallant forecastle, which appeared to be 
our best place for safety. In running forward, I step- 
ped into the fore-hatch, which was open, and fell in, 
but caught by the remnants of the sail which were 
hanging down the hatch, and which saved me from 
falling quite down. I got up, by the aid of the sail, 
on to the deck, and made for the forecastle, which I 
gained, where I found a number of persons had al- 
ready placed themselves. 

" The first one whom I recognized, or heard^ was 
Captain Salter, who said, c Captain White, my dear 

3 



26 STEAMBOAT DISASTERS. 

fellow, I am glad to see you here.' I was at this time 
holding on the forestay, which lay across the fore- 
castle ; and he further said, ' Come forward here ; 
take the other end of this rope ; it is long enough for 
both of us.' I went and took the rope; he then 
added, c I picked out this place for myself, long before 
the boat went ashore.' I lashed myself to the next 
stanchion : this deck now began to work loose from 
the main part of the boat ; the deck settling, the star- 
board bow heaving up. I remarked, 'I don't like 
this being tied fast to stanchions ; for if the bow falls 
over on to us, we have no means to clear us from being 
crushed by it.' I proposed casting ourselves loose 
from the stanchions ; we did so ; and then I took a 
piece of small rope, passed it round a small cleat, and 
held one end in my hand. At this time Captain 
Salter was washed off from the forecastle, but suc- 
ceeded in regaining it, and was a second time washed 
off, when one of the men, named Jackson, caught him, 
and assisted him to get on the forecastle. I then 
handed the other end of the rope, which I fastened to 
the cleat, to Salter. The sea, which had washed 
Salter off, broke off the stanchions to which he had 
first been lashed. All this time a Mr. Lovegreen was 
on the gallows frame, tolling the bell. 

" The forecastle deck now broke loose and floated 
towards the shore, with the six persons besides my- 
self. Very soon one man jumped off and gained the 
beach ; we all followed. I washed ashore with only 
shirt, pantaloons, stockings, and hat. We proceeded 
along the beach towards the light. We soon found 
another survivor ; afterwards we met Mr. Lovegreen. 
We continued our steps towards the lighthouse ; next, 
found Captain Hill, apparently very much exhausted ; 
asked for assistance to help him along, as he could 
not proceed without. Finding the lighthouse at a 
greater distance than was at first believed, I persuaded 
one of the crew to remain with me, to go along the 
surf; in order to give assistance to those who might 



STEAM-PACKET HOME. 27 

be washed ashore ; whilst the other above-mentioned 
persons continued their course to the lighthouse." 

We have condensed the following particulars from 
an account of this terrible disaster, written by Mr. 
J. D. Roland, who was one of the passengers : — 
' The boat left the dock about 5 o'clock on Satur- 
day afternoon, with a light wind from the south-west, 
and rather cloudy. In going out, after passing the 
Narrows, the boat struck on the Romer, where she 
lay four or five hours. He understood, the next 
morning, that the boat was got off about 10 o'clock 
the previous night; whether the boat received any 
injury or not while she lay on the Romer, he did not 
learn. The Home then run out past Sandy Hook, 
and continued her course during Sunday, without 
anything happening worthy of notice, — the weather 
being fine. At 10 o'clock, P. M., the wind changed 
to the north-east, blew hard, and the boat labored 
much and leaked some. On Monday morning, made 
the land about twenty-three miles to the north- 
ward of Cape Hatteras, the sea very rough. The 
boat was then put off shore; and she ran out to sea 
for the purpose of getting round the Cape, and shel- 
tering under the lee in smooth water. She stood to 
sea until 2 o'clock, P. M. All hands, during the 
time, were at the pumps, and the passengers, women 
included, were bailing with buckets, pails, pans, &c. ; 
the leak, however, increasing constantly. It was now 
calculated that they had passed the outer Cape Hat- 
teras, and the boat was turned to shore to beach her, 
for the preservation of all on board. The sails were 
set, and wind on shore ; but the engine was working 
very slowly, and the boat was settling fast. With 
every possible exertion the water gained constantly. 
The boat worked and bent like a reed. The bows 
would work up and down three or four feet, and 
those best acquainted with her expected that she 
would break in two every moment — that she would 
go down, and all on board would perish. 



28 STEAMBOAT DISASTERS. 

During the whole of this time, the passengers cut 
up the blankets into slips, for the purpose of lashing 
them to spars, and to whatever else there might be 
in the way. Notwithstanding the men were working 
with pieces of cords and blankets around their bodies, 
the leak increased, and the boat continued settling 
fast; yet the women, as well as the men, kept on 
bailing, with the faint hope of ultimate safety. All 
labored like heroes and rational beings, and no con- 
sternation or unnecessary alarm was manifested. At 
6 o'clock, P. M., the water reached the engine, to the 
alarm of all, and extinguished the fires ; when, of 
course, the machinery stopped. The boat was still 
out of sight of land, but was running with sails, the 
gale severe, and she laboring dreadfully. The great- 
est efforts were all the time made, by bailing, &c. T 
and all were actively engaged, until 10 o'clock, P. 
M., when the boat struck about a quarter of a mile 
from, but in sight of, the outer breakers. 

In an instant, after the strike, all was utter confu- 
sion and alarm ; men, women, and children, scream- 
ing in the most agonizing manner. The scene was 
most heart-rending; women clinging to their hus- 
bands, children to their mothers, and death, almost 
certain death, before them. It was apparent that the 
boat could hold together but a very few moments, 
and that few, very few, could, under any circum- 
stances, be saved. The wind blew a gale — the sea 
was high, and there were only three boats, and one 
of them had been staved. 

All were engaged in efforts to save their lives; 
some lashing themselves to spars on board, and others 
making what struggle they could. Our informant 
made his calculations that his only chance was in 
swimming ashore; and he accordingly threw off all 
\his clothes, excepting his shirt and pantaloons, and 
before any had left the wreck, threw himself into the 
water. He found the sea so high that he could with 
difficulty encounter it, and, on reaching the surf, he 



STEAM-PACKET HOME. 29 

came near perishing. He, however, landed in safety, 
though the current took him about a mile and a half 
to the southward of the wreck. 

On reaching the shore, Mr. Roland found all man- 
ner of pieces thrown up, — from which it was evident 
that the boat had gone to pieces. One man he pulled 
out of the surf. Only two persons on board had life- 
preservers, both of whom were saved ; one of them, 
however, had no use for his, as he went ashore on the 
forecastle ; the other person, although he could not 
swim, was saved by means of his life-preserver. 

The boat, fortunately, had a high forecastle, on 
which a number of the crew and passengers had col- 
lected. This parted entire, and all, or nearly all, on 
it, (some eight or ten persons, at least,) went ashore, 
and were saved, — Captain White among the number. 

The boat, almost immediately on striking, went to 
pieces. Her keel and keelson both drifted ashore 
about a mile from the wreck. About twenty bodies 
were found, men and women — among them the body 
of an infant, and that of the chief mate. The shore, 
for some miles to the southward, was covered with 
fragments. The boilers of the boat were to be seen ; 
Dut every vestige of the vessel had parted from them. 

Of the three small boats, belonging to the Home, 
one was staved by the violence of the gale as she 
hung in the davits ; the second filled alongside, and 
the other was cast off, with a number of passengers 
in her ; but she upset in the surf, and only one person 
was saved. One of the stewards swam safe ashore, 
naked ; but he nearly perished, afterward, with cold. 

The scene, the next morning, was too horrid to de- 
scribe; the shore was lined with bodies, constantly 
coming up, and all hands were engaged in collecting 
them together. The hull of the boat had broken into 
three pieces, and the boiler was the only unbroken 
relic of what was once the beautiful packet Home. 
The survivors, in groups, were nearly naked, and 
famished and exhausted. The few inhabitants ap- 

3* 



30 STEAMBOAT DISASTERS. 

peared friendly, but many of the trunks that came on 
shore were empty. 

Madame La Coste, a very aged lady, about 70, was 
saved. She was found in the surf; but how she got 
there, neither herself, nor any other person, could give 
any account. Mr. Hussey lashed his wife to a spar, 
but she was forced off by the raging sea, and lost. 
Mr. Hussey afterwards lashed himself to a spar, and 
reached the shore. It is the opinion of our informant 
that a large portion of the passengers were lost to- 
gether, soon after she struck, when the boat separated. 
All the children on board were lost, except one lad 
about twelve years old. 

Ocracoke island, the place on which the survivors 
effected a landing, is principally inhabited by pilots. 
Mr. Littlejohn, a southern planter, who was spending 
the summer there, Mr. Howard, who resides also on 
the island, Captain Pike, and several other gentlemen, 
paid every attention to the survivors, and to the in- 
terment of those bodies which were recovered. With- 
in two days after the fatal occurrence, about twenty 
bodies, among which were those of two or three of 
the ladies, were washed on shore -and buried. 

From Mr. Vanderzee, of Charleston, S. C, who 
was also a passenger, we have gathered some facts, 
of which the following is the substance : — 

At 11 o'clock at night, the Home grounded, about 
a hundred yards from the shore. The ladies had all 
been requested to go forward, as the place where they 
were more likely to reach the shore, being nearest the 
beach ; but a heavy sea struck her there, and swept 
nearly one half of them into the sea, and they were 
drowned. One boat was stove at this time. Another 
boat was launched, with two or three persons in it, 
but capsized. The long-boat was then put overboard, 
filled with persons, about twenty-five in number ; it 
had hardly reached fifteen feet from the side of the 
steamer, before it was upset, — nor is it supposed that 
one of the individuals in it ever reached the shore. 



STEAM-PACKET HOME. 31 

The sea was breaking over the steamboat at this 
time with tremendous force, and portions of her were 
torn off at times, which floated towards the shore ; 
on some of which pieces persons were seen clinging 
with the wildness and strength of desperation. One 
lady, with a child in her arms, was in the act of 
mounting the stairs to the upper deck, when the 
smoke stock fell, crushing her and her child on the 
spot. Some few of the ladies were lashed to the boat ; 
Mrs. Schroeder was confined in this manner to one of 
the braces, and another lady was tied to the same 
piece of timber. Mr. Vanderzee was standing near 
them, when the latter lady slipped along the brace so 
that the water broke over her ; he seized her by the 
clothes, and held her up for some time, and made 
every exertion that was possible to release her, but 
failed. She, herself, endeavored to unloose the rope, 
but was unable to do so ; and shortly afterwards the 
brace broke off from the boat, and went towards the 
shore, Mrs. Schroeder still fastened to it, while her 
unfortunate companion slipped off and was lost. Mrs. 
Schroeder, after striking the beach, with great pres- 
ence of mind, drew the timber up sufficiently far to 
prevent it from being washed away by the waves, 
and was thus saved. 

Captain White, with six or seven other persons, 
clung to a piece of the forward part of the boat, and 
reached the beach in safety. 

The following interesting account of this catastro- 
phe was furnished by Mr. B. B. Hussey, of Charles- 
ton, S. C. : — 

" Immediately before we struck, one or two pas- 
sengers, by the aid of some of the seamen, attempted 
to seek safety in one of the boats at the quarter, when 
a breaker struck it, swept it from the davits, and 
carried with it a seaman, who was instantly lost. A 
similar attempt was made to launch the long-boat 
from the upper deck, by the chief mate, Mr. Mat- 
thews, and others. It was filled with several pas- 



32 STEAMBOAT DISASTERS. 

sengers, and some of the crew ; but, as we were al- 
ready within the verge of the breakers, this boat 
shared the fate of the other, and all on board (about 
ten in number) perished. 

"Now commenced the most heart-rending scene. 
Wives clinging to husbands, — children to parents, — 
and women, who were without protectors, seeking 
aid from the arm of the stranger ; all awaiting the 
results of a moment, which would bring with it either 
life or death. Though an intense feeling of anxiety- 
must, at this time, have filled every breast, yet not a 
shriek was heard, nor was there any extraordinary 
exclamation of excitement or alarm. A slight agita- 
tion was, however, apparent in the general circle. 
Some few hurried from one part of the boat to another, 
as if seeking a place of greater safety ; yet most, and 
particularly those who had the melancholy charge of 
wives and children, remained quiet and calm obser- 
vers of the scene before them. 

" The boat at length strikes, — it stops — as motion- 
less as a bar of lead. A momentary pause follows, — 
as if the angel of death shrunk from so dreadful a 
work of slaughter. But soon the work of destruction 
commenced. A breaker, with a deafening crash, 
swept over the boat, carrying its unfortunate victims 
into the deep. At the same time, a simultaneous rush 
was made towards the bows of the boat. The for- 
ward deck was covered. Another breaker came with 
irresistible force, and all within its sweep disappeared. 
Our numbers were now frightfully reduced. The 
roaring of the waters, together with the dreadful crash 
of breaking timbers, surpasses the 'power of descrip- 
tion. Some of the remaining passengers sought shel- 
ter from the encroaching dangers by retreating to the 
passage, on the lee side of the boat, that leads from the 
after to the forward deck, as if to be as far as possi- 
ble from the grasp of death. It may not be improper 
here to remark, that the destruction of the boat and 
loss of life, was, doubtless, much more rapid than it 



STEAM-PACKET HOME. 33 

otherwise would have been, from the circumstance of 
the boat heeling to windward, and the deck, which 
was nearly level with the water, forming, in conse- 
quence, an inclined plane, upon which the waves 
broke with their full force. 

" A large proportion of those who rushed into this 
passage were ladies and children, with a few gentle- 
men who had charge of them. The crowd was so 
dense, that many were in danger of being crushed by 
the irresistible pressure. Here were, perhaps some 
of the most painful sights beheld. This passage con- 
tained perhaps thirty or more persons, consisting of 
men, women, and children, with no apparent possi- 
bility of escape ; enclosed within a narrow aperture, 
over which was the deck, and both ends of which 
were completely closed by the fragments of the boat 
and the rushing of the waves. While thus shut up, 
death appeared inevitable. Already were both decks 
swept of everything that was on them. The dining- 
cabin was entirely gone, and everything belonging 
to the quarter-deck was completely stripped off, leav- 
ing not even a stanchion or particle of the bulwarks ; 
and all this was the work of about five minutes. 

" The starboard wheel-house, and everything 
about it, was soon entirely demolished. As much of 
the ceiling forward of the starboard wheel had, dur- 
ing the day, fallen from its place, the waves soon 
found their way through all that remained to oppose 
them, and were in a few minutes' time forcing into 
the last retreat of those who had taken shelter in the 
passage already mentioned. 

" Every wave made a frightful encroachment on 
our narrow limits, and seemed to threaten us with 
immediate death. Hopeless as was the condition of 
those thus hemmed in, yet not a shriek was heard 
from them. One lady, unknown to the writer, beg- 
ged earnestly for some one to save her. In a time of 
such alarm, it is not strange that a helpless female 
should plead with earnestness for assistance from 

3 



34 STEAMBOAT DISASTERS. 

those who were about her, or even offer them money 
for that aid which the least reflection would have 
convinced her it was not possible to render. Another 
scene, witnessed at this trying hour, was still more 
painful. A little boy was pleading with his father to 
save him. { Father,' said the boy, i you will save 
me, won't you? You can swim ashore with me; 
can't you, father?' But the unhappy father was too 
deeply absorbed in the other charges that rested upon 
him, even to notice the imploring accents of his help- 
less child ; for at that time, as near as the writer 
could judge, from the darkness of the place they were 
in, his wife hung upon one arm, and his daughter of 
seventeen upon the other. He had one daughter 
besides, near the age of this little boy, but whether 
she was at that time living or not is uncertain. 

"After remaining here some minutes, the deck over- 
head was split open by the violence of the waves, 
which allowed the writer an opportunity of climbing 
out. This he instantly did, and assisted his wife 
through the same opening. As he had now left those 
below, he is unable to say how they were finally lost, 
but as that part of the boat was very soon completely 
destroyed, their further sufferings could not have been 
much prolonged. We were now in a situation which, 
from the time the boat struck, we had considered as 
the most safe, and had endeavored to attain. Here we 
resolved to await our uncertain fate. From this place 
we could see the encroachment of the devouring 
waves, every one of which reduced our thinned num- 
bers, and swept with it parts of our crumbling boat. 

"For several hours previous, the gale had been 
sensibly abating ; and, for a moment, the pale moon 
broke through the dispersing clouds, as if to witness 
this scene of terror and destruction, and to show to 
the horror-stricken victims the fate that awaited 
them. How few were now left of the many who, but 
a little before, inhabited our bark ! While the moon 
yet shone, three men were seen to rush from the 



STEAM-PACKET HOME. 35 

middle to the stern of the boat. A wave came rush- 
ing on. It passed over * the deck. One only, of the 
three, was left. He attempted to regain his former 
position. Another wave came. He had barely time 
to reach a large timber, to which he clung, when this 
wave struck him, — and he, too, was missing. As the 
wave passed away, the heads of two of these men 
were seen above the water; but they appeared to 
make no effort to swim. The probability is, that the 
violence with which they were hurled into the sea 
disabled them. They sunk — to rise no more. 

" During this time, Mr. Lovegreen, of Charleston, 
continued to ring the boat's bell, which added, if pos- 
sible, to the gloom. It sounded, indeed, like the 
funeral knell over the departed dead. Never before, 
perhaps, was a bell tolled at such a funeral as this. 
While in this situation, and reflecting on the necessity 
of being always prepared for the realities of eternity, 
our attention was arrested by the appearance of a lady, 
climbing up on the outside of the boat, abaft the 
wheel, near where we were. Her head was barely 
above the deck, on which we stood, and she was 
holding to it in a most perilous manner. She implored 
help ; without which, she must soon have fallen into 
the deep beneath, and shared the fate of the many 
who had already gone. The writer ran to her aid, 
but was unable to raise her to the deck. Mr. Vfood- 
burn, of New York, now came, and, with his assist- 
ance, the lady was rescued : she was then lashed to 
a large piece of timber, by the side of another lady, — 
the only remaining place that afforded any prospect 
of safety. The former lady (Mrs. Schroeder) was 
washed ashore on this piece of the wreck, — one of the 
two who survived. The writer having relinquished 
to this lady the place he had occupied, was compelled 
to get upon a large piece of the boat, that lay near, 
under the lee of the wheel ; this was almost immedi- 
ately driven from its place into the breakers, which 
instantly swept him from it, and plunged him deep 



36 STEAMBOAT DISASTERS. 

into the water. With some difficulty he regained his 
raft. He continued to cling to this fragment as well 
as he could; but was repeatedly washed from it. 
Sometimes, when plunged deep into the water, he 
came up under it. After encountering all the difficul- 
ties that seemed possible to be borne, he was, at 
length, thrown on shore, in an exhausted state." 

The following letter was written by Captain White 
to the owner of the Home, Mr. James P. Allaire, of 
New York. It gives a condensed account of the dis- 
aster, and the names of those who were saved : 

Ocracoke, M. C, October 10, 1837. 
" Mr. James P. Allaire, 

" Dear Sir : — I have now the painful duty of inform- 
ing you of the total loss of the steam-packet Home, 
and the lives of most of the passengers and crew. 

" There can be very little saved from the wreck. 
We had a heavy gale of wind, after leaving New 
York, from N. E. The boat sprung a leak a little to 
the northward of Hatteras ; at first we were able to 
pump the water out as fast as it came in, but the leak 
soon increased, so that it gained very fast on us. We 
scuttled the cabin floor, and all hands, passengers, 
gentlemen and ladies, commenced bailing with buck- 
ets, kettles, &c. ; but the water soon came up to the 
furnaces, and put the fire out, and we were obliged to 
run under sails only. By the time we came to the 
shore, the water was over the cabin floors ; we run 
her head on, but owing to her having so much water 
in, she stopped in the outward breakers. The first 
sea that came after she struck, stove the weather 
quarter boat, and all the houses on deck were stove 
in ; and twenty-five minutes after she struck, she was 
all to pieces, and I suppose about eighty souls were 
drowned. Both mates, all three of the engineers, and 
James B. Allaire, are lost. Most of the passengers 
saved have lost nearly all of their baggage. I have 
lost everything ; having nothing but one pair of pan- 



STEAM-PACKET HOME. 37 

taloons, and a shirt that I had on when I washed 
ashore. 

"In haste, yours respectfully, 

"CARLETON WHITE." 

The following are the names of the passengers 
saved, as given in the letter of Captain White : — 

Mr. Hiram Anderson, N. Y. Mr. Jabez Holmes, N. Y. 
Mr. J. Bishop, N. Y. Mr. J. Johnson, Jr., Boston. 

Mr. Conrad Quinn, Jersey Mr. A. A. Lovegreen, Charles- 

City. ton. 

Mr. J. S. Cohen, Columbia, Madame La Coste, Charleston. 

S. C. ' Mr. John Mather, N. Y. 

Mr. C. C. Cady, Montgomery. Mr. J. D. Roland, N. Y. 
Mr. Darius Clock, Athens,Ga. Mr. W. S. Eead, New Haven. 
Mr. Charles Drayton, Charles- Capt. J. Salter, Portsmouth. 

ton. Mr. T. J. Smith, Charleston. 

Capt.Alfred Hill, Portsmouth. Mrs. Schroeder, Charleston. 
Mr.B. B. Hussey, Charleston. Mr. H. Vanderzee, N. Y. 

Making twenty passengers saved. Of the crew, in- 
cluding the captain, there were also twenty saved. 
We give the names of the crew, as far as known : — 

William Bloom. Levi Miller. 

Michael Barnes. David Milne. 

James DufFee. Thomas Smith. 

James Jackson. Timothy Stone. 

Calvin Marvin. John Trust. 

We give a list of those who were lost, as far as 
their names could be ascertained : — 

Mr. James B. Allaire. Mr. Broquet. 

Mr. P. Anderson. Mrs. Broquet, and children, 
Mr» A. C. Bangs. and servant. 

Mr. Benedict. Mrs. Camack. 

Mr. A. F. Bostwick. Mr. Cauthers. 

Madame Boudo. Mr. Philip S. Cohen. 

Mr. J. Boyd. Mr. H. A. Cohrs. 

Mrs. J. Boyd. . Mr. James Cokes. 
4 



38 



STEAMBOAT DISASTERS. 



Rev. George Cowles. 

Mrs. G. Cowles. 

Mr. Hardy B. Croom. 

Mrs. H. B. Croom. 

Miss Henrietta Croom. 

Miss J. Croom. 

Master Croom. 

Mr. A. Desaybe. 

Mr. F. Desaybe. 

Mr. Desaybe. 

Mrs. Desaybe, and servant. 

Mr. B. Domingues. 

Mrs. Faugh. 

Mr. Finn. 

Mrs. Flynn, and two children. 

Mr. S. G. Fuller. 

Mr. R. Graham. 

Mr. Hazard. 

Mrs. Alfred Hill. 

Mrs. Hussey. 

Mr. Kennedy. 

Mr. Labadie. 

Mrs. Laroque. 

Mrs. Levy. 

Miss F. Levy. 

Miss O, Levy. 

We give some further particulars relative to the 
loss of the Home, gathered from various sources ; as 
also some brief notices of a portion of the passengers 
who were lost. 

From the statement of Mr. David M. Milne, the stew- 
ard of the Home, we learn that the gale commenced 
on Sabbath morning, and continued to increase all the 
day. At night, the boat labored much, and leaked 
considerably, though not enough to excite much ap- 
prehension of danger. On Monday morning, how- 
ever, there was no concealment of the fact that all 
were in imminent peril. The general expectation 
was, that the boat would sink, with all on board, when 
about fifteen miles off Cape Hatteras. The Rev. Mr. 



Mrs. Miller 

Professor INott. 

Mrs. Nott. 

Mr. James Paine. 

Mr. George H. Palmer. 

Mr. George H. Prince. 

Mrs. G. H. Prince. 

Madame Reviere. 

Miss Roberts. 

Mr. J. Root. 

Mr. J. M. Roll. 

Mr. Thomas Smith. 

Mr. P. Solomons. 

Mr. Sprott. 

Miss Stowe. 

Mr. William H. Tileston. 

Mr. D. B. Toms. 

Mrs. Yaugh. 

Mr. Walker. 

Mr. Walton. 

Mr. Weld. 

Mr. Whiting. 

Mrs. Whiting. 

Mr. C. Williman. 

Mr. Woodburn. 



STEAM-PACKET HOME. 39 

George Cowles, who, during two years of feeble health, 
had often been told by the physician that medicine 
was of no avail, that his existence could not be pro- 
longed, which he had heard without a perceptible 
quickening of the pulse, or one distracting fear in his 
heart; and his wife, too, who had often stood at his 
side, in the very presence of the pallid king, were now, 
throughout this day of awful suspense, to exemplify 
the effects of their- previous discipline, when thus sud- 
denly called to face death in one of its most terrific 
forms. 

Mr. Milne stated that he had a more distinct recol- 
lection of Mr. and Mrs. Cowles than of any other pas- 
sengers, because of the religious conversation ivhich 
they addressed to him. In the midst of the perils of that 
eventful day, Mr. Cowles, who was compelled by sick- 
ness to keep his berth, requested Mr. Milne to read 
aloud certain portions of Scripture ; and then, while 
many of the passengers gathered around, and listened 
with profound interest, he commended them all to God 
in audible prayer. Never were individuals more per- 
fectly composed than Mr. and Mrs. Cowles. Several 
distinct times he gave vent to his gratitude, on 
account of the calmness and peace of his wife, who, 
he had expected, would have been greatly terrified. 
Both expressed a great degree of interest for the wel- 
fare of others. To one individual, the direct inquiry 
was proposed, in the kindest manner of Christian 
fidelity, whether he was a Christian, and if he did not 
admit at such a time, that it was of all things safe 
and important to have God for a refuge. Concerning 
another, who, in a state of desperation, and under the 
influence of intoxicating liquors, uttered some horrible 
imprecations, Mr. Cowles remarked, " How much 
better would it be for that man to be in prayer for his 
soul, than to blaspheme his God." The remark was 
afterwards communicated to the individual himself, 
under very affecting circumstances. 

At 3 o'clock in the afternoon, when it was evident 



40 STEAMBOAT DISASTERS. 

that the boat could not long hold together, Mr. and 
Mrs. Cowles, who had hitherto declined going up, on 
the plea that their doing so would he of no service, 
were summoned to the dining cabin on the main deck. 
Mr. Milne himself assisted Mrs. Cowles out of her 
berth, and again heard her declare, when dressing for 
her death, her joy and sense of security in confiding 
on Almighty love. To him the remark was made by 
Mr. Cowles, l '- He that trusts in Jesus is safe, even 
amid the perils of the sea." 

At 8 o'clock in the afternoon, when nearing the 
shore, another effort was made to lighten the boat by 
bailing ; and, as it was necessary for all to aid, the 
ladies, and among them Mrs. Cowles, formed a line 
for passing the empty buckets, in which occupation 
her cheerful appearance was observed by many, and 
tended not a little to inspire others with hope. Not- 
withstanding all their exertions, the leak gained very 
rapidly, the fire under the boilers had long ago been 
extinguished ; the engines were useless, the cabin 
floor was deeply flooded, and all further effort was 
abandoned. All was silence ; most were providing 
themselves with whatever presented the least hope 
of safety. At ten minutes before 11 o'clock, the boat 
struck. The moon, at the time, was shrouded by thick 
clouds ; but it was not so dark, but that the shore 
could be seen at the distance of a quarter of a mile. 
Orders were immediately given for all the passengers 
to go forward. A life-line was passed from the bow, 
aft, to which they were advised to cling in a sudden 
emergency. Mr. Cowles was seen to go forward with 
his arm around his wife. They were seen no more. 
Probably, the first breaker which struck the boat, 
after she swung to the sea, swept them together to 
their watery grave. 

We give the following brief memorial of the Rev. 
Geo. Cowles and his wife, as furnished by a friend 
shortly after the disaster : — 

" Amid the general gloom and distress occasioned 



STEAM-PACKET HOME. 41 

throughout the community, by the loss of the steam- 
boat Home, great interest has been felt in many 
circles on account of the premature, death of the Rev. 
George Cowles and wife, who perished in that disas- 
ter. Were their loss a private affliction only, great 
and irreparable as it is to immediate relatives, the 
following facts would never be obtruded upon the 
public notice, but left to that grief which seeketh 
secrecy, and ' knoweth its own bitterness.' It had 
fallen, however, to their lot, to occupy an important 
station in the church of Christ ; they were extensive- 
ly known and loved ; and a very numerous and 
affectionate people, over whom they long and faith- 
fully watched, deplore their loss. Mr. Cowles, for 
two or three years, until his health had failed, was 
pastor of a Congregational church in Danvers, Mass. 
His amiable lady was a sister of the Rev. Mr. 
Adams, of the Broome street church in New York, 
and daughter of the venerable preceptor of Phillips' 
Academy, Andover. 

" They arrived in New York, September 22, in- 
tending to pass the winter with a brother and sister 
in Augusta, Georgia. They were long doubtful what 
means of conveyance to choose. They had a most 
decided aversion to a passage in the steamboat. In- 
deed, such had always been their strong and invincible 
dread of the sea, that they would have chosen to jour- 
ney the whole distance by land, if it had not been 
thought unsafe to travel so early in the season through 
the low countries of the South. During their visit in 
New York, the Home completed her second trip from 
Charleston ; the first in sixty-two, the last in sixty- 
four hours. The speed, comfort, and safety of this 
boat were so highly extolled, that both were led to 
think more seriously of taking passage on her return ; 
and, after a personal inspection of her accommoda- 
tions, and learning that on previous passages she had 
taken the inner channel, thus avoiding Cape Hatteras 
altogether, their berths were secured. 

4* 



42 STEAMBOAT DISASTERS. 

"On Saturday afternoon, Oct. 7, they were accom- 
panied to the boat, in more than ordinary health and 
spirits, excepting some natural tears on leaving home 
and friends, and, in the case of one, there can be no 
doubt, because of her instinctive and unparalleled 
fear, when upon the icaler. 

11 For several successive days after her departure, 
the weather continued remarkably fine in New 
York ; and many, who had friends on board the 
Home, congratulated themselves and the voyagers, 
on account of their safe arrival at Charleston. How 
great the shock, when, on the subsequent Tuesday, 
the awful tidings arrived, that the Home had foun- 
dered at sea, and a large majority of the passengers 
were swept into eternity ! 

" It was the first impulse of all, on recovering suffi- 
cient composure, to converse with the survivors, and 
obtain from them, if possible, more definite informa- 
tion concerning their particular friends and relatives. 
The first and only individual who was able to make 
any report of Mr. and Mrs. CowleSj was Mr. Jabez 
Holmes, an amiable and pious young gentleman, of a 
mercantile house in that city. He had no personal 
acquaintance with either. He knew them not by 
name ; but when told that Mr. Cowles was a clergy- 
man, he identified him at once, describing his dress, 
and that of his wife, so accurately, as to preclude all 
possibility of his being mistaken. He had had con- 
siderable conversation with both during the fatal 
storm ; and his recollections of them were the more 
distinct, because of the very remarkable composure 
which they exhibited ; which term, added the same 
gentleman, failed to express all that their words and 
countenances indicated. It was something more than 
composure ; it was happiness, when they spoke of 
their confidence in God ! 

11 l Lovely were they in their lives, and in death 
they were not divided.' Who can doubt that it would 
have been 'the choice of both, if either was to be 



STEAM-PACKET HOME. 43 

taken, not to be separated in such a death? Both 
were taken to their home and refuge at the same 
moment. Blessed be God for all those calm supports 
which He extended to them in prospect of death — 
elevating the one above the reach of a more than or- 
dinary timidity, and thus comforting the hearts of 
many on sleepless pillows, when the dark and driv- 
ing storm carries their frighted thoughts to the sea." 

Every possible measure was taken, immediately 
after hearing of the shipwreck, to ascertain whether 
the remains of these two had been identified; and- to 
obtain such information as would facilitate their re- 
moval to a resting-place beside those graves at home, 
which they had so often visited and bedewed with 
tears. The people, over whom they were placed, 
have since erected a monument to their memory, in 
the same quiet church-yard, where, with funeral 
rites, they had deposited so many of their flock. But 
their true record is on high ; and their memory is yet 
green in the warm hearts of thousands. 

The following brief sketches comprise all that we 
have been able to learn of the residue of those who 
were lost in this fatal catastrophe : 

Professor Nott and lady were on their return to the 
south, after passing the summer recess of the Colum- 
bia College in our more healthy region. Mr. Nott was 
a person of peculiar amiableness and intelligence. He 
had travelled extensively ; and his writings, after his 
return to his native land, had gained him much celeb- 
rity. He formed his matrimonial alliance in Belgium ; 
but Mrs. Nott, though a native of that country, died 
with many friends in ours, the country of her adop- 
tion. The professor, himself, was a native of South 
Carolina, where his father held the station of judge. 
They left a young family behind them ; and the nu- 
merous friends of their lamented parents deeply sym- 
pathize in their bereavement. 

Mr. A. C. Bangs was a very promising young man, 



44 STEAMBOAT DISASTERS. 

about nineteen years of age. He was the son of the 
Rev. Heman Bangs, of Hartford, and nephew of the 
Rev. Dr. Bangs of New York. 

Mr. Philip S. Cohen was the younger brother of 
Mr. Isaac S. Cohen, who was also a passenger, but was 
fortunately preserved. Both brothers were on board 
the "William Gibbons" at the time she was wrecked, 
and narrowly escaped with their lives. We under- 
stand that their friends at home were very urgent that 
they should not return in the Home. Alas, that their 
entreaties were of no avail ! 

Mr. S. G. Fuller, of South Carolina, was about 
twenty-eight years of age. He was on his return 
from a visit to his friends residing in Brooklyn, L. I. 

Mr. Kennedy, of Charleston, S. C, was a prom- 
ising member of the sophomore class, in Yale Col- 
lege. 

Hon. George H. Prince and lady had spent the 
summer at the north, where Mr. Prince was superin- 
tending the publication of the laws of Georgia. He 
was formerly United States senator from that state, 
and was highly esteemed for his talents and learning. 

'Miss Henrietta Croom was sixteen years of age, a 
young lady of great personal accomplishments. She 
was a native of North Carolina, and had been resi- 
dent in New York about three years, for the purpose 
of completing her education at a celebrated boarding- 
school in that city. 

Mr. and Mrs. Hardy B. Croom were the parents 
of the young lady above mentioned. Their son, a fine 
youth, was also on board. Mr. Croom was a resident 
of Florida, but, being in feeble health, generally spent 
his summers at the north. Of this entire family, we 
understand that not one is left. 

Mrs. Levy, of Charleston, with her two lovely and 
accomplished daughters, were returning home after 
having spent the summer in New York. One of the 
daughters had come to the north for the benefit of her 
health. She had recovered, and was returning in 



STEAM-PACKET HOME. 45 

happy spirits, when they were thus suddenly sum- 
moned to another world. 

Mr. Wm. H. Tileston, of New York, was going 
south, on a business tour, for the house with which he 
was connected. He had with him business notes for 
collection, amounting to upwards of one hundred 
thousand dollars. He was a young man of much 
promise, and greatly beloved by all who knew him. 

Mrs. Hill, was the wife of Captain Alfred Hill, who 
was among those saved from the devouring sea. 
Captain Hill, when the boat struck, secured a spar, 
upon which he and his wife endeavored to reach the 
shore. They had nearly gained the beach, when a sea 
struck them, and the husband was doomed to see the 
wife of his bosom carried from beyond his reach, just at 
the moment when he had believed they had escaped 
the horrible fate of so many of their companions. 
Mrs. Hill was a Welsh lady, about twenty-four years 
of age, and much esteemed by all who knew her. 

Mr. James B. Allaire was a nephew of the owner 
of the vessel. Many there are who will long cherish 
the memory of this amiable young man. 

Mr. H. Vanderzee, who is one of the survivors, was 
going south on the business of a mercantile house in 
New York. He had a large amount of notes with 
him for collection, which he took the precaution to 
secure around his body. He jumped overboard when 
the boat struck, and was driven by the tide and surf 
a great distance. When almost exhausted, and about 
to give himself up to despair, a piece of the wreck 
was fortunately thrown in his way, by which he 
was enabled to support himself until he was washed 
ashore. He also stated, that the large number of 
trunks which came on shore, were broken to pieces, 
either by the crushing of the boat, or by being 
knocked about in the surf. Very little of the baggage 
was saved to those whose lives were spared. 

The cause of this catastrophe is far more attributa- 
ble to the unseaworthiness of the boat than to the 



46 STEAMBOAT DISASTERS. 

storm wnich she was so utterly unfitted to encounter. 
In Captain White's account of the disaster, there is 
one remark introduced, which speaks volumes to this 
effect. During the gale, Captain Salter, one of the 
passengers, observed, that the boat "was ceiled with 
nothing but thin common pine plank, whereas she 
should have been ceiled with seven inch oak timber, 
champered down to the edges." And, again, pre- 
vious to her last departure from New York, a gentle- 
man who was on board, remarked to the chief engi- 
neer, the peculiar form of the deck, which drooped 
very much both at the bow and the stern, and in- 
quired what was her original shape. The engineer 
replied, that she was originally straight; but that, in 
her first trip, they had put a large quantity of ballast 
too far forward, in consequence of which two of her 
fore and aft stay-rods had broken before she arrived 
at Charleston ; owing to which the boat had strained 
and dropped at the bows. He stated, also, that after 
the ballast was taken out, and the stay-rods repaired, 
the boat had come back, considerably, to its original 
form. How far it had been restored to its former 
shape, may be inferred from the fact, as just stated, 
that a casual observer should sufficiently have no- 
ticed its defects in this respect, as to make particular 
inquiries as to the cause. 

During the whole of the gale, the weakness of the 
boat was awfully developed. The hull bent and 
twisted, when struck by a sea, as if the next would 
rend it asunder ; and, after she had struck, her de- 
struction was rapid ; in less than an hour she was 
completely broken up ; and her scattered fragments, 
drifting on the beach, was all that could be seen by 
the few unhappy survivors. 

And was it to be supposed that a boat, so utterly 
disqualified, so unfaithfully, built, — or, as was more 
probable, built solely for the purpose of skimming the 
smooth waters of a river, — could breast in safety the 
mountain billows of the Atlantic, or hope to weather, 



STEAM-PACKET HOME. 47 

for an instant, the sleepless gales that scud forever 
over its broad expanse ? And while we will not be- 
lieve there are those so depraved, as would knowing- 
ly or wantonly invite their fellow-beings to destruc- 
tion, yet we deem it the imperative duty of all to 
frown upon the cold-blooded apathy and the total 
disregard of all precautionary care, evinced by those 
to whom, in such cases, the responsibility belongs. It 
matters little that they plead ignorance of the insuffi- 
ciency of the vessel, or of the dangers to which she 
may be exposed ; the very excuse itself is a crime, 
and proves either neglect or incapacity. For the 
adequate strength of the boat, and the consequent 
safety of those who entrust their lives within its frail 
limits, such persons should be held amenable, by 
every law of justice and humanity ; and although the 
laws of the land, with strange apathy, refuse to award 
the condign punishment such, aggravated cases de- 
mand, yet the stern voice of an indignant public 
should denounce the reckless indifference, the gross 
carelessness, and the criminal neglect, through which 
so many of their fellow-beings are suddenly swept 
into eternity. 



THE WEECK OF THE HOME. 

Written by Miss Eliza Earle, now Mrs. William Hacker, of Philadelphia. 

Morn on the waters — not a cloud 

Is resting in the azure heaven ; 
And, where the storm in fury bowed, 

A halcyon calmness now is given. 
On Carolina's wave-washed shore, 

The spirit of Columbia's waters 
Now chants a mournful requiem o'er 

Her country's much-loved sons and daughters. 



48 STEAMBOAT DISASTERS. 

Nor those alone, — for on that bark, 

Which rode the waves at yester-even, 
Braving the tempest fierce and dark, 

In hopes to reach the destined haven, — 
Were strangers from a distant clime, 

The talented, the generous-hearted ; 
The wise and learned of their time, 

Who on a high career had started. 

One,^ from the shores of sunny France, 

Across the ever-heaving ocean, 
Bore o'er that water's wide expanse 

A woman's holy, deep devotion. 
That husband fond — that gentle wife, 

Whose days on golden pinions glided, 
Were " loved and lovely in their life, 

And in their death were undivided." 

O ! when destruction's angel passed 

Across the ocean's troubled bosom, 
More fatal than the simoon's blast 

To Joy's bright bud, and Hope's fair blossom, 
Few were the sad survivors, borne 

Across that dark, tempestuous water, 
In heartfelt loneliness to mourn 

A mother's loss, a wife, or daughter. 

And here, to onet I dearly loved 

My spirit turns in mournful sadness, 
Whose friendship and whose faith were proved 

In sorrow's hour, and pleasure's gladness. 
Peace to thy memory ! gentle one ; 

He, in whose sight the just find favor, 
We trust has early called thee home, 

To dwell forever with thy Savior. 

How precious to each memory, 
The ample and sincere oblation, 

* The wife of Professor Nott was a French lady. 

t Mary, wife of B. B. Hussey, and daughter of Thos. Woodward, of New 
York. 



STEAM-PACKET HOME. 

From feeling's fount of sympathy, 
Now gushing forth throughout the nation ; 

As on that rude and dangerous strand, 
"We seem to hear their funeral dirges, 

The requiem of that fated band 

Entombed beneath the swelling surges. 

O ! may that God of sovereign power, 

Of every blessing, still, the giver, 
Through every dark, desponding, hour, 

Sustain each lone and sad survivor; 
And, bowed beneath hfs chastening hand, 

Whose judgments are in mercy given, 
In every trial may they stand 

Kesigned to Him who reigns in heaven. 



49 





ESCAPE OF THE CHARLESTON, 

On her Passage from Philadelphia for Charleston. 
S. ft, in which she experienced, and rode out in 
safety, the same Gale in which the Steam-Packet 
Home was lost, October 9, 1837. 

The following interesting narrative of the escape of 
the steam-packet Charleston, we copy from the letter 
of a passenger : — 

" The wind and swell of the sea increased consid- 
erably, and the appearance of the ocean was awfully 
grand. The waves towered above the upper deck, 
while the gulf which yawned below, seemed as though 
it would swallow us up. Our course was in the 
trough of the sea, with the winds and waves on our 
side, which made the boat roll excessively; and the 



ESCAPE OF THE CHARLESTON. 51 

force of the waves striking the boat, made her tremble 
from end to end. The gale rapidly increased in fury 
towards night, and the terrific appearance of the bil- 
lows, with the howling of the wind, convinced me 
that our situation had become most serious and dan- 
gerous. We were oif Cape Hatteras, between twenty 
and thirty miles from land, in one of the most dan- 
gerous parts of the coast of North America. I retired 
to my berth, very late, and was so fully impressed with 
our danger, that I could not sleep ; and the tremen- 
dous lurching of the boat would hardly allow me 
to lie in my berth. 

"A little before 2 o'clock in the morning, a sea 
broke over the stern of the boat like an avalanche ; 
the concussion was so great as to break in the bulk- 
heads, and shatter the glass in some of the windows, 
far from where it struck. It broke in the sky -lights in 
the after-cabin, and, pouring into it in torrents, made 
a clear sweep over the after-deck, as deep as the bul- 
warks,— nearly four feet. The violence of the sea 
lifted the deck, fore and aft of the wheel-house, mak- 
ing an opening about an inch wide the whole length 
of the boat, through which the water poured into her 
sponsons every time she shipped a sea ; and she rolled 
like a log in the water. The weather-side, moreover, 
took so much more than the other, that it occasioned 
her to list over very much, and deranged the working 
of the engines. Had these failed, all hope would 
have been at an end. The captain behaved with re- 
markable coolness and decision. He had been on the 
upper deck, at the helm, all the day and night; ex- 
posed to the fury of the winds and waves, without 
any shelter. 

"When we shipped the sea, at 2 o'clock, P. M., he 
ran down into our cabin, said he could not be absent 
from the helm, and that if we wished to save our 
lives, we must turn to bailing water, or, he greatly 
feared, the boat would be swamped. At this moment, 



52 STEAMBOAT DISASTERS. 

four sky-lights, each eight inches by thirty, were 
pouring down columns of water, the whole cabin 
afloat, and trunks, settees, bonnet-boxes, &c., # were 
dashing from side to side, as the vessel heaved in 
the trough of the sea. Buckets were procured, and 
we commenced as fast as we could ; but every sea we 
shipped brought in vastly more than all of us could 
bail out, and the water soon became so deep as to run 
into the top of my boots. It was evident some other 
means must be resorted to. The passengers and crew 
behaved with great calmness and propriety, — none, 
who were able, refusing to work. We took our mat- 
rasses and pillows, and stuffed them into the lights ; 
but the returning waves washed them out. We then 
barricaded them with settees, and stationed men to 
hold them in. This succeeded in part ; but no sooner 
was this accomplished, than a tremendous sea struck 
us on the other side, and opened a way for the water 
in there, and into the ladies' cabin. 

tl It now became necessary to put some stopping on 
the outside ; but the boat was shipping such tremen- 
dous seas, that it was a work of great hazard. A 
man, however, was procured to go, who was lashed to 
the stanchions by a strong rope ; but such was the 
depth of the water on the deck, from the continual 
washing of the waves, that he could do but little. 
The boat rolled and pitched so dreadfully, that we 
could scarcely stand, even when holding on ; and she 
had shipped so much water, that she leaned on the 
side towards the sea, exposing her to its full action. 
I stood bailing and handing water, from the time it 
first broke into the cabin, until 8 o'clock in the morn- 
ing, wet to the skin, and nearly ready to sink with 
fatigue. As the day dawned, the storm raged more 
furiously; the billows rose as high as our smoke- 
pipe, and, as they curled and broke, fell on us with 
amazing power. About 10 o'clock, the engineer told 
us he thought the engine could not hold out much 
longer, she was so disarranged and injured by the 



ESCAPE OF THE CHARLESTON. 53 

heavy shocks of the sea. We knew that, as far as 
regarded outward means,- this was our only hope of 
safety, and this intelligence was appalling. Our 
captain was collected and energetic ; but the winds 
and waves laughed at the puny power of man, and 
defied all his efforts. 

"At half past 10 o'clock, A. M., a sea of immense 
volume and force struck our forward hatch, towered 
over the upper deck, and swept off all that was on it. 
It broke the iron bolts that supported the smoke-pipe, 
stove in the bulwarks, tore up the iron sheathings of 
the engine, and made almost a wreck of the upper 
works. On the main deck, it tore away the guards 
several inches square, demolished the windows of the 
main hatch in the men's cabin, and poured down a 
torrent of water which filled it nearly two feet deep. 
It ingulfed the fire under the boiler of the engine on 
that side, and lifted the machinery so as to permit 
the escape of a volume of steam and smoke, that 
nearly suffocated us ; and so shifted the main shaft 
of the engine that it no longer worked true, but tore 
away the wood- work, and almost destroyed its fur- 
ther usefulness. It swept all the rooms on both sides, 
and threw them open to every succeeding wave. 
The crash was awful ■ the boat trembled and quiv- 
ered as though she was wrecked ; and the big bell 
tolled with the shock, as though sounding the funeral 
knell of all on board. 

" I never had an adequate idea of a storm before. 
The whole sea was white with foam ; and the wind 
blew up the water in such quantities that the atmos- 
phere was thick with it. Every sea stove in some 
new place ; windows and doors gave way with awful 
crashes ; and several times the fires were nearly ex- 
tinguished. The captain, who had stood at his post 
near the helm, now came down from the upper deck, 
and told us the fury of the storm was such that he 
feared he could not save the vessel; that her upper 
works were fast becoming a wreck, and, as soon as 

5* 



54 STEAMBOAT DISASTERS. 

they went, she would fill and sink ; therefore, if it 
met the approbation of the passengers, he would en- 
deavor to run her ashore, in the hope of saving our 
lives. He said all would depend upon the character 
of the beach, and on our self-possession and calmness 
to act with judgment at the trying moment, and 
assured us that he would lose his life to save ours. 
He told us to continue working at the pumps and 
buckets, and in handing wood for the engines, as 
long as we could possibly stand ; and to avoid giving 
way to improper excitement ; that when the vessel 
should strike, we must make for the bow after the 
first sea had swept her decks. He also directed us 
where to place those articles we should most want, 
if we survived. He then went to the women's cabin, 
and, calling them all together, stated his apprehen- 
sions that the vessel could not be saved ; giving them 
much the same charges he had done to us. 

"All this was done with as much apparent calmness 
as though all was well. The captain then ordered 
the carpenter to be ready with the axe to cut away 
the mast the moment she should strike ; and, having 
made these arrangements, resumed his station at the 
helm. The boat now rolled more than ever, shipped 
nearly every sea that struck against her, and swung 
round from the shock, so as not to obey the helm. 
An almost constant stream of water swept the decks, 
and, at every stroke of the sea, the boat groaned, and 
the bell rung with a sound that seemed peculiarly 
awful. 

11 We all procured ropes, and fastened them around 
our bodies, for the purpose of lashing ourselves to 
the wreck ; and, having embraced each other, pre- 
pared to take our part in the work, and to meet the 
awful impending catastrophe. We stood together, 
for a few moments, looking on the terrific display 
around us, and both secretly and openly, I believe, 
putting up our prayers. After this deeply affecting 
scene, I went to work, and continued at it until 8 



ESCAPE OF THE CHARLESTON. 55 

o'clock at night, pumping, bailing, or handing out 
water, and carrying wood for the fires. As we were 
then twenty-five or thirty miles from shore, the cap- 
tain's anxiety was to put the boat in as soon as pos- 
sible, before she became unmanageable, or began to 
sink. He steered for Cape Lookout, in North Caro- 
lina, though he could not tell certainly where he 
was ; but concluded it must be the nearest land, and 
that it would be as good a place to be wrecked on as 
any. 

" But a merciful and kind Providence knew better 
than we, and at that awful moment was watching 
over us, and frustrating our designs, for our good. 
The land lay N. N. W., and the gale blowing heavily 
N. E., so that he could not steer her in. Finding this, 
he came down and desired the engineer to raise steam 
with wood, to enable him to steer in, or otherwise all 
hope was gone. Accordingly, we all went to handing 
wood for the engine ; but so much had been washed 
over, that we had hardly enough for three hours. 
The sea had broken down the doors and windows, 
&c., on deck, and we carefully Collected these, and 
put them in to keep up the fire. But with all the 
steam we could raise, we could not steer for shore, 
the wind and current carrying us down along shore, 
but not in towards it. And this proved our safety ; 
for, with the tremendous sea which we afterwards saw 
setting on the coast near which we aimed to ground, 
we must all have perished had we succeeded in our 
attempt. As it was, the wind, current, and steam, 
just served to carry us, under the guidance of a 
gracious Providence, we knew not whither, but into 
stiller water. 

"About 9 o'clock at night, the sea began to be more 
calm, — though the fury of the storm was not les- 
sened, — by which the captain was induced to believe 
that we had doubled the cape, and were coming 
under its lee. By incessant exertions we now nearly 
cleared the hold and cabin of water ; and, as the boat 



56 STEAMBOAT DISASTERS. 

shortly came into comparatively smooth water, the 
captain thought he would try to weather the night at 
anchor, thinking the storm might abate by morning. 
Some protested against this, and insisted upon run- 
ning on shore at once ; but the captain would not, as 
he thought we should all perish in the dark. He 
therefore steered in towards it ; and, after running 
two hours, dropped two anchors, which held the boat. 
On weighing these, in the morning, we found that the 
largest one had broken short off, and our safety 
during the night had depended on a small, and, as 
we should have thought, a very insufficient one. 

" Our captain now called a consultation of the pas- 
sengers, in which nearly all agreed that we should 
run into Beaufort, to refit. As he did not know the 
channel, it was necessary to sound continually ; but, 
after a few hours, a pilot came off to us and steered 
us in handsomely." 




LOSS OF THE STEAM-PACKET PULASKI, 

By the Explosion of her Starboard Boiler, when off 
the Coast of North Carolina, and on her Passage 
from Charleston to Baltimore, June 14, 1838 ; by 
which Disastrous Event nearly One Hundred 
Persons perished, 

The steam-packet Pulaski, under the command of 
Captain Dubois, left Savannah on Wednesday, the 
13th of June, having on board about ninety passen- 
gers. She arrived at Charleston on the afternoon of 
the same day, and sailed the next morning, with 
sixty-five additional, passengers. The wind being 
fresh from the east, caused a heavy sea, which re- 
tarded her progress, and required a full pressure of 
steam. At half past 10 o'clock in the evening, the 
wind continued about the same, with clear starlight, 
and every promise of a fine night. 

At 11 o'clock, the starboard boiler exploded, with 
tremendous violence, blowing off the promenade-deck 
above, and shattering the starboard side about mid- 
ships ; at the same time, the bulkhead, between the 
boilers and forward cabin, was stove in, the stairway 
to it blocked up, and the bar-room swept away. The 
head of the boiler was blown out, and the top rent 
fore and aft. In consequence of the larboard boiler 
and works being comparatively uninjured, the boat 
heeled to that side, and the starboard side was kept 
out of the water, excepting when she rolled, when the 
sea rushed in at the breach. The boat continued to 
settle rapidly, and, in about forty minutes, the water 
had reached the promenade-deck above the ladies' 
cabin. 



60 STEAMBOAT DISASTERS. 

Previous to this period, the ladies, children, and the 
gentlemen who were in the after part of the boat, were 
placed on the promenade-deck. About the time that 
the water reached that point, the boat parted in two 
with a tremendous crash, and the bow and stern rose 
somewhat out of the water : but the latter again con- 
tinued to sink until the water reached the promenade- 
deck, when it separated in three parts, upset, and pre- 
cipitated all on it into the water. Many then regained 
the detached portions. The gentlemen, who occupied 
the forward cabin, took refuge on the extreme point 
of the bow, and clung to that and the foremast ; others 
had placed themselves on settees, and the fragments 
of the wreck. 

There were four boats belonging to the Pulaski; 
two being swung to the sides, and two placed on the 
top of the promenade-deck. The side boats were both 
lowered down, within five minutes after the explosion. 
In the boat on the starboard side, the first mate, Mr, 
Hibbert, Mr. Swift, and one other person, had placed 
themselves; in that on the larboard side, were Mr. 
J. H. Couper, with Mrs. Nightingale and child, and 
Mrs. Frazer and her son, who were under his charge ; 
Capt. R. W. Pooler and son, and Mr. William Rob- 
ertson, all of Georgia; Barney and Solomon, belong- 
ing to the crew, and two colored women. By direc- 
tion of the mate, two of the crew launched one of the 
deck boats, and got into her ; but as, from her long expo- 
sure to the sun, her seams were all open, she immedi- 
ately filled, and Mr. Hibbert removed the men to his 
boat. The boats met ; when those in the second pro- 
posed to Mr. Hibbert to strike for the land, as it had 
on board as many as it could safely carry ; this he 
declined to do, as he said he was determined to stay 
by the wreck until daylight, and had yet room for more 
persons. Both boats then continued to row about the 
wreck, until the mate's boat had picked up as many 
as she could carry, when Mr. Hibbert yielded to 
the propriety of consulting the safety of those in 






STEAM-PACKET PULASKI. 61 

the boats, by going to the land, as their further stay 
would endanger them without affording any aid to 
their suffering friends ; and they left the wreck at 
3 o'clock, P. M. The boats took a north-west course, 
being favored by a heavy sea and a strong breeze 
from the south-east. 

At 12 o'clock they made the land, and at 3, P. M., 
were near the beach. Mr. Hibbert then waited until 
the second boat came up, and informed them that 
those who were in his boat refused to row any far- 
ther, and insisted on landing. Mr. Couper united with 
him in protesting against this measure, as, from the 
heavy breakers which were dashing on the beach, as 
far as the eye could reach, it was obviously one of 
great peril. Being overruled, they submitted to make 
the attempt. The mate, who had previously taken 
the two colored women from the second boat, then 
proposed to lead the way, and requested Mr. Couper 
to lie off, until he had effected a landing, and was pre- 
pared to aid the ladies and children. The first boat 
then entered the surf, and disappeared for several 
minutes from those in the other boat, — having been 
instantly filled with water. Six of those who were in 
her, Mr. Hibbert; Mr. Swift, Mr. Tappan, Mr. Leuch- 
tenburg, and two of the crew, landed in safety. An old 
gentleman, supposed to be Judge Rochester, formerly 
of Buffalo, N. Y., but recently of Pensacola, Mr. Bird, 
of Georgia, the two colored women, and a boat hand, 
were drowned. The other boat continued to keep off 
until about sunset, when, finding the night approach- 
ing, and there being no appearance of aid, or change 
in the wind, which was blowing freshly in to the land, 
and the persons in the boat having previously refused 
to attempt to row any farther, Mr. Couper reluctantly 
consented to attempt the landing. 

Before making the attempt, it was thought neces- 
sary, to prevent the infant of Mrs. Nightingale, which 
was only seven months old, from being lost, to lash it 
to her person, which wf\s done. Just as the sua 

6 



62 STEAMBOAT DISASTERS. 

was setting, the bow of the boat was turned to the 
shore, and Mr. Couper sculling, and two men at the 
oars, she was pulled into the breakers. She rose 
without difficulty upon the first breaker; but the 
second, coming out with great violence, struck the 
oar from the hands of one of the rowers. The boat 
was thus thrown into the trough of the sea, and the 
succeeding breaker striking her broadside, turned her 
bottom upwards. Upon regaining the surface, Mr. 
Couper laid hold of the boat, and soon discovered that 
the rest of the party, with the exception of Mrs. Night- 
ingale, were making for the shore ; of her, for a few 
moments, he saw nothing; but, presently, feeling 
something like the dress of a female touching his foot, 
he again dived down, and was fortunate enough to 
grasp her by the hair. The surf continued to break 
over them with great violence, but, after a struggle, in 
which was spent the last efforts of their strength, they 
reached the shore, utterly worn out with fatigue, 
watching, hunger, thirst, and the most intense and 
overwhelming excitement. Besides this, the ladies 
and children were suffering severely from the cold. 
The party proceeded a short distance from the shore, 
where the ladies laid down upon the side of a sand 
hill, and their protectors covered them and their chil- 
dren with sand, to prevent them from perishing. 
In the meantime, some of the party went in quest of 
aid, and about 10 o'clock, the whole of them found a 
kind and hospitable reception under the roof of Mr. 
Siglee Redd, of Onslow county. 

The forward part of the boat, after separation, con- 
tinued to float. There remained on it Major Heath 
and twenty-one others. We had a conversation with 
Major Heath, in which he related with great minute- 
ness every thing attending the preservation of the per- 
sons who were on the wreck with him. It is impos- 
sible to convey in words any thing more than a faint 
idea of the suffering they underwent, or of the many 



STEAM-PACKET PULASKI. 63 

harrowing and distressing circumstances which oc- 
curred during the four days they were on the wreck. 

But a short time previous to the explosion, it was 
remarked by one of the passengers, to Major Heath, 
that the gauge showed thirty inches of steam. On 
the attention of the engineer being called to this fact, 
he replied that it would bear, with safety, forty 
inches. Major Heath had just retired in the after 
cabin. A number of passengers were lying on the 
settees ; and, when the boiler burst, the steam rushed 
into the cabin, and, it is thought, instantly killed 
them, as they turned over, fell on the floor, and never 
were seen by him to move afterwards. He had, on 
hearing the noise of the explosion, got out of his berth 
and ran to the steps ; the steam meeting him in the 
cabin, he retreated under them, as also did Mr. Love- 
joy, and they were thus partially shielded from its 
effects. 

In a few moments, Major Heath went on deck, 
where he found all in darkness. He called for the 
captain, and receiving no answer, made for the mast, 
as he felt the boat to be sinking. Before he could 
secure himself, the sea burst over him and carried 
him away ; fortunately, however, a rope had caught 
around his leg, and with this he pulled himself back. 
The mast, as soon as he had been washed from it, 
fell, and crushed one of the passengers, Mr. Auze, a 
French gentleman, of Augusta. The boat had now 
broken in two parts, with a tremendous crash, and 
the deck, forward of the mast, was carried away from 
the rest of the vessel, seemingly, very swiftly. No- 
thing more was seen after this by Major Heath, of the 
yawl, or the after part of the boat; but, in about half 
an hour, he heard a wild, shrill scream, and then all 
was quiet. This must have been when the prome- 
nade-deck turned over, with at least one hundred 
human beings upon it ! 

When daylight broke, he found that there were 
twenty-two on the wreck with him ; among them was 



64 STEAMBOAT DISASTERS. 

Captain Pearson, who had been blown out into the 
sea, but who had caught a plank, and succeeded in 
reaching them during the night. 

The danger of their situation was at once fully 
realized. The heavy mast lay across the deck on 
which they rested, and kept it about twelve inches 
under water, and the planks were evidently fast part- 
ing ! Captain Pearson, with the rest, set himself to 
work to lash the wreck together, by the aid of the 
ropes on the mast, — letting the ropes sink on the side 
of the raft, which, passing under, came up on the 
other side; and, by repeating this operation, they 
formed a kind of net- work over it. They also suc- 
ceeded in lashing two large boxes to their raft, which 
served as seats. 

Friday passed without any vessel coming in sight. 
Their thirst now became intense. The heat of the 
sun was very oppressive, its rays pouring down on 
their bare heads, and blistering their faces and backs, 
— some not having even a shirt on, and none more 
than a shirt and pantaloons. 

The sufferings of the younger portion of their com- 
pany at this time became very great. Major Twiggs, 
of the United States army, had saved his child, a boy 
of about twelve years of age. He kept him in his 
arms nearly all the time ; and when he would call 
on his mother, who was safe at home, and beg for 
water, his father would seek in vain to comfort him 
by words of kindness, and by clasping him closer to 
his heart. 

On Saturday, they fell in with another portion of 
the wreck, on which were Mr. Chicken and three 
others, whom they took on their raft. Towards the 
close of the evening they had approached within 
half a mile of shore, as they thought, and many were 
anxious to make an effort to land. This was objected 
to by Major Heath, as the breakers ran very high, 
and would have dashed the raft to pieces on the 
shore. Mr. Greenwood told the major that he was 
one Of the best swimmers in the country, and that he 



STEAM-PACKET PULASKI. 



C5 



would tie a rope around him, and swim to the shore. 
"No, no," replied the major, "you shall not risk 
your life for me under these circumstances ; and in 
such an attempt you would lose your life. No ! I 
am the oldest man in danger, and will not increase 
the risk of others. "- 




Major Heath, and twenty-two others, on the bow of the boat. 

All hope of landing was soon given up, when a 
light breeze from shore was found carrying them 
farther out. into the bosom of the trackless sea. De- 
spair now seemed to seize on some : and one sug- 
gested, that if relief did not soon reach them, it would 
be necessary to cast lots ! The firmness and decision 
of Major Heath soon put this horrid idea to flight. 
" We are Christians," he said, " and we cannot inno- 
cently imbrue our hands in the blood of a fellow- 
creature. A horrible catastrophe has deprived hun- 
dreds of their lives, and brought sorrow to many a 
hearth, and thrown us upon the mercy of the winds 
and waves. We have still life left : let us not give 

6* 5 



66 STEAMBOAT DISASTERS. 

up all manliness, and sink to the brute. We have 
all our thoughts about us, and should face death, 
which must sooner or later overtake us, with the 
spirit that becomes us as Christian men. When that 
hour arrives, I will lay down my life without a mur- 
mur, and I will risk it now for the safety of any one 
of you ; but I will never stand by and see another 
sacrificed that we may drink his blood and eat his 
flesh !" With such words as these, did he quiet and 
reconcile them to await the issue. The day again 
wore away without the sight of a vessel to cheer 
their drooping spirits. 

On Sunday morning it commenced raining, with a 
stiff breeze from the north-east, which soon increased 
to a severe gale. Every effort was made to catch 
some of the falling rain in the piece of canvass which 
they had taken from the mast, but the sea ran so 
high that the little they did catch was nearly as salt 
as the spray of the ocean. Still the rain cooled them, 
and, in their situation, was found refreshing and 
grateful. 

On Monday morning they saw four vessels. They 
raised on a pole a piece of the flag that was attached 
to the mast, and waved it ; but in vain. The vessels 
were too far off, and hope was nearly lost as they 
watched them, one after another, pass from their 
sight. They had now been without food or water 
for four days and nights ; their tongues were parched, 
their flesh burnt and blistered by the sun, their brains 
fevered, and many of them began to exhibit the pecu- 
liar madness attendant on starvation. Neither could 
they sleep, as the raft was so much under water, and 
it required continual watchfulness to keep themselves 
from being washed over by the sea. Major Heath 
says, that never, for one moment, did he lose his con- 
sciousness; and we hear from others, that his cheer- 
ful spirit and encouraging conversation kept alive the 
hope of safety, and banished despair from the minds 
of his fellow-sufferers. 



STEAM-PACKET PULASKI. 67 

On the morning of Tuesday, a vessel hove in 
sight; and her track seemed to lie much nearer them 
than those they had seen the day before. They 
again waved their flag, and raised their feeble voices ; 
but still the vessel kept on her course, which now 
appeared to carry her away from them. " She is gone," 
said one of the crew, — a poor fellow who had been 
dreadfully scalded, — and he laid himself down on one 
of the boxes, as he said, " to die." Captain Pearson, 
who had been closely watching the vessel, cried out, 
" She sees us ! She is coming towards us !" And so 
it proved. All sails set, and full before the wind, the 
vessel made for them. It proved to be the schooner 
Henry Camerdon, Captain Davis, bound from Phila- 
delphia to Wilmington. As soon as the captain had 
come within speaking distance, he took his trumpet, 
and cried out, " Be of good cheer ; I will save you !" 
It was the first strange voice that had reached their 
ears for five days ; but to them, were not those five 
days as an age ! 

When the schooner came alongside, they all rushed 
franticly on deck ; and it was with some difficulty 
that the captain could keep them from the water 
casks. He furnished them with moderate portions 
of sweetened water, and, by his prudence, doubtless, 
preserved their lives. During the morning, Major 
Heath and his company had seen another portion of 
the wreck, with several persons on it : when the cap- 
tain of the Henry Camerdon was informed of it, he 
immediately sailed in the direction it had been seen, 
and shortly afterwards came in sight. On this wreck, 
which was a part of the promenade-deck, were Miss 
Rebecca Lamar ; Mrs. Noah Smith, of Augusta; Mas- 
ter Charles Lamar, of Savannah; and Mr. Robert 
Hutchinson, of Savannah. The two ladies and Mas- 
ter Lamar were nearly exhausted. Every possible 
attention to the comfort of all was bestowed by Cap- 
tain Davis ; and Major Heath, in behalf of those who 
were saved with him, afterwards publicly returned 



68 STEAMBOAT DISASTERS. 

the deep and heartfelt thanks of the beings whom he 
had rescued from a condition of such misery and 
peril, that the heart sickens at the bare remembrance 
of it. 

When the promenade-deck was separated from the 
hull, many persons took refuge on this portion of it. 
Among them were Mr. G. B. Lamar, of Savannah, and 
two children ; the Rev. Mr. Woart, and lady, of Flor- 
ida ; and a child of Mr. Hutchinson, and the second 
mate of the Pulaski. On Saturday morning, finding 
there was no other hope of safety, the mate proposed 
to take the boat which they had secured, — being the 
second deck boat, — and, with Gre of the most able 
of those on the raft, to endeavor to reach the shore, 
and to send out some vessel to cruise for them. This 
being assented to, the mate, with Mr. Lamar and four 
others, took their departure ; and, on Wednesday 
morning; they reached New River Inlet in safety. 
The passengers remaining on the raft, with the ex- 
ception of the four mentioned as being taken off by 
the Henry Camerdon, died from exhaustion; among 
them were the Rev. Mr. Woart and lady, whose Chris- 
tian resignation to their fate excited the admiration 
of all around them. 

It was ascertained at Wilmington, on the subse- 
quent Wednesday, that eight other persons from the 
wreck had reached New RiverJnlet ; but their names, 
with two exceptions, could not be ascertained. 

The passengers who escaped were almost all, with- 
out exception, habited in no other dress than that in 
which they were sleeping on the night of the catas- 
trophe, and consequently suffered very severely from 
the blistering effects of the sun during the day, and 
the chilly winds of the night. They had been entire- 
ly destitute of water or food of any kind. Those 
who were last saved were most of them in a dreadful 
state of ulceration and debility. 

Mr. Hibbert, the first mate, who had charge of the 
Pulaski at the time, states, that about 10 o'clock at 



STEAM-PACKET PULASKI. 69 

night, he was called to the command of the boat, and 
that he was pacing the promenade-deck in front of 
the steerage-house. He found himself, shortly after, 
upon the main-deck, lying between the mast and side 
of the boat. Upon the return of consciousness, he 
had a confused idea of having heard an explosion, 
something like that of gunpowder, immediately be- 
fore he discovered himself in his then situation. He 
was induced, therefore, to rise and walk aft, when he 
discovered that the boat midships was blown entirely 
to pieces ; that the head of the starboard boiler was 
blown out, and the top torn open ; that the timbers 
and plank on the starboard side were forced asunder, 
and that the boat took in water whenever she rolled 
in that direction. 

He became immediately aware of the horrors of 
their situation, and the danger of letting the passen- 
gers know that the boat was sinking, before lowering 
the small boats. He proceeded, therefore, to do this. 
Upon dropping the boat, he was asked his object ; and 
he replied, that it was to pass round the steamer to 
ascertain her condition. Before doing this, however, 
he took in a couple of men. He ordered the other 
boats to be lowered, and two were shortly put into 
the water ; but they leaked so much, in consequence 
of their long exposure to the sun, that one of them 
sunk, after a fruitless attempt to bail her. He had, 
in the meantime, taken several from the water, until 
the number made ten. In the other boat afloat there 
were eleven. While they were making a fruitless 
attempt to bail the boat, the Pulaski went down, with 
a dreadful crash, in about forty-five minutes after the 
explosion. 

Mr. B. W. Fosdick, of Boston, one of the surviving 
passengers, describes the horrors of the scene with 
a graphic pen. The particulars agree mainly with 
those we have already given. He had retired to rest, 
not feeling very well, and was awakened, about 11 
o'clock at night, by a loud report, followed by a tre- 



70 STEAMBOAT DISASTERS. 

mendous crash. He supposed the vessel had run 
ashore, and, finding himself uninjured, he arose and 
dressed himself, when a person came down into the 
cabin, calling for fire-buckets, and giving the alarm 
that the boat was on fire. This person, he believes, 
was Mr. Sherman Miller, whom he never saw after- 
wards. When he reached the deck, he found that 
the boiler had burst. The confusion was very great, 
— husbands and wives running about and calling for 
each other. He saw one person, among the ruins of 
the engine, moaning, and crying aloud, " gone ! gone! 
gone !— firemen, help me ! — firemen, help me!" He 
was one of the firemen. Mr. Fosdick escaped by 
getting on a piece of the wreck, and, in company 
with two of the deck hands, was driven ashore on 
Saturday afternoon, near New Inlet. The following 
is extracted from his letter : — 




"Friday morning came — and discovered to us our 
situation. We were out of sight of land. Three rafts 
we saw at a distance. They were too far off for us 
to discern the persons upon them ; but they all had 
signals flying. Upon our little raft we found a small 
chest, — belonging to one of the firemen, and which 
afterwards served us as a seat, — two mattresses, a 
sheet, a blanket, and some female wearing apparel. 

"The mattresses we emptied of their contents, and 



STEAM-PACKET PULASKI. 71 

with the covering of one of them we made a sail, 
which, with a good deal of difficulty, we succeeded 
in putting up, and which did us much service, for by- 
noon we had almost lost sight of the other rafts : and, 
in the afternoon, nothing was seen, as far as the eye 
could reach, but sky and water. 

" But our spirits did not flag, for we thought that 
by morning we must certainly fall in with some fish- 
ing-boats. We also found on the raft a tin box, con- 
taining some cake, wrapped up in a cloth. This was 
completely saturated with salt water ; but we took a 
mouthful of it in the course of the day, and found it 
pretty good. There was also a keg, which floated on 
to the raft, containing a little gin ; but this was of 
little service, for, by some means or other, it had be- 
come mixed with salt water. The night came, the 
wind and sea increased, and we were obliged to take 
down our little sail. During the night, the waves 
were constantly washing over our raft, and the water 
at all times stood a foot deep upon it. 

"We sat close together upon the chest, which we 
lashed as well as we could to the raft, and wrapped 
ourselves up in the wet blanket and clothes, — for the 
night air felt very cold, after having been exposed, 
as we were all day, to the broiling sun. We were 
much fatigued, and once during the night we fell 
asleep, but were soon awakened by the upsetting of 
our seat, which nearly threw us overboard. Anx- 
iously we watched for the rising of the moon, — which 
rose some hours after midnight, — and still more anx- 
iously for the break of day and the rising of the sun, 
which we hoped would disclose to our weary eyes 
the sight of some distant sail. 

" The sun atjast did arise ; but there was nothing 
in sight. For the first time we began to feel a little 
discouraged ; still the hope that we should soon see 
land impressed itself forcibly upon us, and eagerly 
we cast our eyes landward, every now and then, as 
the sun continued to rise. And, joyful sight ! about 



72 STEAMBOAT DISASTERS. 

6 o'clock, we thought we did see land — and in an- 
other half hour were sure of it. 

"Now we redoubled our exertions, — we paddled, 
we held up in our hands pieces of cloth, we did every 
'thing to propel our craft, — for we feared the wind 
might change, and blow off shore, and then all hope 
would be lost ; for our raft, we felt sure, could not 
hold together another day. As we neared the land, 
we found the surf was running pretty high ; but it 
being a sandy shore, we felt no fear of this, for we 
saw the land, and we knew that our suspense would 
soon be at an end. 

" About 4 o'clock, P. M., on Saturday, we reached 
the breakers. The first breaker came over us with 
great violence, and so did the second ; the third broke 
the raft into pieces ; but we clung to the fragments, 
and soon found we could touch the bottom with our 
feet ; and in a few minutes we were safe upon terra 
Jirma, considerably bruised and sun-burnt, but with 
our lives. And grateful did we feel to that Almighty 
Arm, which, in the hour of danger, was stretched 
over us to save and protect ! It was only by the 
mercy of a Divine Providence that we were thus 
saved from a watery grave." 

From Mr. Merritt, another of the survivors of the 
frightful disaster which befel the Pulaski, we have 
derived some additional particulars : — 

When the explosion took place, Mr. Merritt in- 
dulged the hope that the boat would continue to 
float; and, after hastening to his wife and child, in 
the ladies' cabin, he returned towards the middle of 
the boat, to ascertain more distinctly the extent of 
the damage, and to take such measures as might be 
within the power of the passengers to adopt, in order 
to prevent the water from coming in on the side 
where the boiler had exploded. A few moments, 
however, served to convince him that the boat must 
sink. He found the water entering on both sides, 



STEAM-PACKET PULASKI. 73 

and also apparently through the bottom, and all hope 
of checking its ingress was abandoned. He then 
hastened back to the ladies' cabin, and, on requesting 
them to dress themselves, and be in readiness to meet 
the impending peril, a scene of terror and anguish 
ensued, which was well calculated to melt the stout- 
est heart. Women clung around him with entreaties 
that he would save them ; while mothers as importu- 
nately begged, not for themselves, but for the preser- 
vation of their children. In a short time, the inmates 
of the ladies' cabin, together with a number of gen- 
tlemen, were assembled on the promenade-deck, 
whither they had taken refuge, in consequence of the 
continued settling of the hull in the water. The 
further sinking of the hull, and the parting of the 
promenade-deck threw those who were on it into the 
sea, and among them Mr. Merritt, his wife, and child. 
Being an excellent swimmer, he was enabled to sus- 
tain both, although the difficulty of so doing was 
greatly increased by the close clinging of the mother 
to the child. 

While thus engaged, a boy of twelve or fourteen 
years old, caught hold of him for help, and he too 
was sustained, until he was enabled to gain a frag- 
ment of the wreck floating near, on which he seemed 
to be so well able to maintain himself, that Mr. Mer- 
ritt asked him to take his child on the fragment, 
which the lad readily acceded to. Mr. Merritt was 
now able to bestow his whole strength in sustaining 
his wife ; when, to his horror, he felt himself clasped 
from behind, around the lower part of his body, by 
the iron grasp of a stout, athletic man, evidently 
struggling for life. An instant was sufficient to sat- 
isfy him that the grasp of the man would drown 
them all ; and, telling his wife that this would be the 
case without he could extricate himself, he asked her 
to rally her strength for an effort to reach a piece of 
the wreck close by, to which she consented. Giving 
her a push towards it with as much power as his 



74 STEAMBOAT DISASTERS. 

peculiar situation would allow him to do, he saw her 
gain it. In the mean time, his own case called for 
immediate relief; but he found himself, on making 
the effort, utterly unable to gain a release from the 
powerful hold which was fastened around his body 
with an iron firmness. There was but one hope left, 
and there was not a moment allowed him to deliber- 
ate on it. He had been an expert swimmer and diver 
when a boy, and to sink under the waves with a 
man clinging to him was the last, the only resort re- 
maining. They went down together, and the man 
relaxed his hold before Mr. Merritt's breath became 
exhausted. On rising again to the surface, he struck 
against pieces of the wreck which were now floating 
over him, and after some difficulty cleared them so 
as to breathe again ; but, on looking around, he could 
discover neither his wife, nor his child, nor the boy. 
What had occurred during the brief space that he 
was beneath the waves he knew not ; but he neither 
heard nor saw them any more ! 

Soon after, he reached what he supposed was a 
hatchway, and this sustained him pretty well. While 
thus floating, he discovered near him a man on a 
smaller fragment, evidently much exhausted. He 
called to him to come to the hatch as a place of greater 
safety ; and, after no little effort, his fellow-sufferer 
was placed upon it. The weight of the two, how- 
ever, was found to be rather too much for the hatch 
to sustain, and subsequently, when they fell in with 
a larger fragment, they drew the hatch upon it, and 
thus were enabled to float without being immersed. 
On this the two remained from Friday night until 
Sunday, having, on Saturday, experienced a heavy 
gale, which, for hours, threatened to destroy their 
frail float, and engulph them in the ocean. On Sun- 
day they neared the land, and were finally cast 
ashore on the beach, on the North Carolina coast. 

Mr. Merritt left his companion on the beach, per- 
fectly exhausted, and, although himself nearly worn 



STEAM-PACKET PULASKI. 75 

out, went forward to discover a house. He had not 
proceeded very far, when, to his inexpressible joy, he 
descried a small hut, the sight of which renewed his 
strength and hopes. Bracing himself for a final effort, 
he pushed forward, although with tottering steps, 
and, arriving at the door, found it to be a fisherman's 
hut, — but empty, and apparently deserted ! Overcome 
by fatigue, hunger, and disappointment, he fell life- 
less to the ground. When he came to himself he 
found at his side three fishermen, who had arrived at 
the hut soon after he had entered it, and, having kin- 
dled a fire, had warmed and restored him to anima- 
tion. He immediately informed them of his comrade 
on the beach, and indicated, as well as he could, the 
direction ; but the search proved ineffectual, although 
prolonged until dark. 

On the following morning, however, a farmer, who 
had heard some rumors <rf the wreck, in riding to- 
wards the shore on an errand of mercy, — if possible 
he might find any who needed it, — discovered an ob- 
ject crawling over one of the sand hills on the beach, 
which, on a nearer approach, he found to be a human 
being. It was the companion of Mr. Merritt, who 
had laid on the beach all night, too much exhausted 
to move. He was immediately conveyed to a place 
of shelter; and every kindness was shown to both 
the sufferers. 

Mr. Stewart, who was the companion of Mr. Mer- 
ritt, alluded to above, gave the following thrilling 
statement : — 

"After the explosion, the boat still moved on, from 
the previous force given her. I saw a small boat, 
with some persons in it, lying somewhat astern of us ; 
this, I suppose, was one of the boats that got ashore. 
The steam-packet was fast sinking, the water pour- 
ing over the guards. About this time, I assisted some 
lady — God knows who — to get on the upper deck, 
who begged me to get her husband up, and said he 
was an old, gray-headed man. I did not see him. I 



76 STEAMBOAT DISASTERS. 

also heard a lady crying in a loud voice for her hus- 
band, pronouncing his name repeatedly,—' Mr. Ball.' 
A gentleman, that I supposed was Mr. Ball, sprang 
from the fore part of the boat into the water, and 
made for his wife; but must have sunk before he 
reached the after part. Several persons wildly jumped 
overboard, and tried to reach settees, &c., and, sink- 
ing, called for something to be thrown them. The 
weight of the machinery, I suppose, caused the boat 
to sink faster in the centre, which threw up the stern. 
She then parted. 

" The stern part of the boat, upon which I was, 
turned a complete somerset ; and when it was about 
perpendicular, I let go of the davit ropes, to which I 
was clinging. Many others were thrown off at the 
same time. I was sunk in the water for some time, 
and was grasped by persons I supposed to be ladies, 
from their clothes, and was^ept down probably twenty 
feet : after they let go, I came up, amidst a crowd of 
persons. I thought if I remained here I should inev- 
itably be borne down ; I therefore swam off as well 
as I could. It was light enough for me to see persons. 
I saw the larger parts of the wreck, which seemed to 
be distant about one hundred yards. There were 
vast quantities of fragments floating around me ; and, 
fortunately, I got upon a piece, — a hatch, — and pick- 
ing up a small plank, I paddled off from the body of 
the wreck, thinking the heavy swell would dash me 
to pieces, if I came in contact with it. 

" In about an hour I saw a person upon a fragment. 
It was Mr. Merritt, of Mobile, he informed me. We 
concluded to get our pieces together : meeting with a 
larger and a longer fragment just ahead, we reached 
it, and got our pieces on it. Mr. Merritt had been on 
a hatch. A rope happened to be fastened to one of 
the rings ; he cut the rope with his knife ; we unrove 
it, and fastened our pieces pretty firmly on it. We 
also found an oar, which was afterwards of essentia] 
service to us. 



STEAM-PACKET PULASKI. 77 

"About three o'clock there was a severe squall, 
which lasted but a few minutes. At daylight we saw 
some fourteen or fifteen rafts, pretty much in a line, 
some before, others behind, and some three miles dis- 
tant. The wind was about east, and setting us, I 
thought, in for the land. Some of the rafts I saw 
had persons on board. I recollect there was a raft 
passed near me, which seemed to be made up of lum- 
ber, plank, and a vast quantity of wood, with a soli- 
tary being upon it — a negro man, who had got up a 
small sail. We picked up a stool which floated near, 
upon which Mr. Merritt and myself alternately took 
our turns at steering. We had taken off the hatches, 
and got up a sort of mast. From the canvass we 
made a sail ; and our object was to keep our craft 
before the wind, to prevent her turning over. She 
went before the wind very well. We were frequently 
immersed in the water, and kept constantly wet, with- 
out food or fresh drink. 

"I had no stockings or hat on, and suffered im- 
mensely from the rays of a scorching sun, during the 
day, and at night I was chilled almost to death. Mr. 
Merritt happened to be better clad. He had on his 
pantaloons, and saved his watch. On Friday even- 
ing, we thought we saw a lighthouse, but it proved 
to be a vessel. The sharks threatened to devour us, 
as they were all around us on Friday and Saturday, 
and would greedily seize on chips or rubbish that 
fell from the raft. I was fearful they would break 
our oar, when we should have got in the trough of 
the sea, and buried over. 

" On Saturday evening, I thought I saw land. Mr. 
Meritt thought I was mistaken, as in the evening 
there was a fog that might be mistaken for the shore. 
Shortly after, we were both convinced we saw land, 
distant about ten miles. This was a joyful sight. 
Mr. Merritt sprang up, crying, 'Thank God, it is land,' 
and said to me, he had one hundred dollars with him, 

which he had fortunately put in his pocket the day 

7# 



78 STEAMBOAT DISASTERS. 

before the disaster had occurred. This he kindly- 
said he would divide with us, should we ever reach 
the shore. 

" Ajt daylight, Sunday morning, we were quite near 
the land, not going directly for it, but running along 
shore, and gradually approximating it : about 10 
o'clock, we were thrown into the breakers. Mr. Mer- 
ritt was first thrown off, and, after a while, reached 
the shore before I did. About the third breaker, my 
frail bark was precipitated over my head, and it was 
fortunate it did not strike me ; it kept somewhat 
ahead of me. After a short time, I touched bottom 
in about three feet of water, and rapidly made for the 
beach, which I reached. I was so completely ex- 
hausted, I could scarcely crawl up the beach, upon 
which I lay, in a state of insensibility, until about 
11 o'clock the next day, when a benevolent man, Mr. 
Spicer, who resides near New River Inlet, came across 
me. He inquired if I had companions. I told him, 
Mr. Merritt. 

" After putting a plank to keep the sun from my 
face, he went to look for Mr. Merritt, and came back 
and told me he could not find him. He then took 
me across the sound to his own house, where I re- 
mained, with every attention paid me, until Thurs- 
day. The sun and salt water had completely skinned 
me, and cream was applied. On Thursday I reached 
Wilmington, where every assistance was rendered, 
and loans of money volunteered. But the citizens of 
Wilmington, and all along as I came, were, however, 
so kind, that I had but little occasion for money. 

"Dr. Stewart's servant girl came with me. After 
the wreck, she states she was with six others on a 
raft. Dr. Stewart, she says, was with her on the 
wreck until Monday, when he died from exhaustion. 
His servant kept his head above the water for two 
days, after the doctor was too enfeebled to hold on. 
He told the servant that he saw his wife go down, 
after the terrible disaster, several times, and could be 



STEAM-PACKET PULASKI. 79 

of no service to her. The next day, Friday, the 
doctor and his servant saw many dead bodies floating 
near, and among the rest, his little child, two years 
old. What a dreadful spectacle ! The doctor, before 
his death, became delirious: when he expired, his 
lifeless body was silently swept into the sea. Several 
persons, the girl states, in fits of delirium jumped off 
the raft. 

"The exposure that I had to encounter, together 
with the horror of soul at the terrific scene I passed 
through, (which now I can scarcely realize, as it 
seems like an awful dream,) occasioned me infinite 
suffering ; but, in my illness, I was, by the hand of 
an all-wise Providence, thrown amongst the kindest 
people I ever saw. I shall recollect them as long as 
pulsation vibrates through my heart." 

From Captain Pearson, the chief mate, some addi- 
tional particulars have been obtained. He says : — 

" June 13, at half-past 5 o'clock, P. M., I sounded on 
the Frying Pan Shoals, in five fathoms water, and 
shaped the course of the boat for Cape Lookout Shoal. 
I was in conversation with some of the passengers on 
the promenade-deck, where I remained until 10 o'clock, 
P. M., after which all retired below. At 10 o'clock, I 
went to the engine-room and examined the steam- 
guage, which I found indicated twenty-six inches. 
This I thought was doing very well, as the speed of 
the boat increased as she grew lighter, and of course 
worked off the steam sooner. 

" Finding all things as they should be, I called Mr. 
Hibbert on deck, and gave him charge of the boat, 
observing to him that he must keep a good look-out, 
and call me at 12 o'clock, as I thought we. should 
reach Cape Lookout about half past one, or at least I 
Luuld then take the soundings. I also told him that 
Captain Dubois was lying in the steering-house, 
where he would find him. 

u When the explosion took place, which I should 



80 STEAMBOAT DISASTERS. 

judge to be about 11 o'clock, P. M., I experienced 
rather a pleasant sensation, as though I were dream- 
ing that I was flying in the air. I was awakened by- 
falling on my back in the water, surrounded by the 
fragments of my room. Immediately conscious of my 
situation, I got on a small board and swam for the 
boat, which appeared to be thirty or forty yards dis- 
tant, and still going rapidly. I saw the heads of 
seven persons near me, but could not tell whether 
they were white persons or not. I continued to swim 
for the boat, and finding my clothes an impediment, I 
soon divested myself of them. My watch-guard be- 
came entangled around my wrist, which I was com- 
pelled to break and let go. 

" As near as I could judge, I must have been swim- 
ming three quarters of an hour. When I had ap- 
proached within one hundred yards of the boat, I saw 
her lights begin gradually to disappear. I stopped 
and exclaimed, ' My God, is the Pulaski sinking ? ' I 
renewed my efforts to reach her, and soon found my 
worst fears realized, as her bow sunk deep beneath the 
surface. I then swam towards the stern, and when 
within ten or fifteen feet, I saw the heads of people. 
T called for a boat, as loud as I was able, for some time, 
but received no answer. I then swam towards the 
head of the steamboat, and saw the forward part of 
her main bottom keel up, and near it the forward part 
of the main deck, I approached, and saw men stand- 
ing there. I called to a gentleman near the side, and 
told him my name, which he immediately made known 
to the others, and threw me a rope. His name is Mr. 
Gregory, of Georgia, and I shall ever remember him 
with gratitude. 

" When I got on to the wreck, my first object was 
to procure the boats, hoping to assist some of the un- 
fortunate ladies, for whose safety I would willingly 
have risked my life. Finding that we should have to 
lighten our wreck, I informed the gentlemen present 
that my left arm was badly scalded, and useless to me, 



STEAM-PACKET PULASKI. 81 

but that I would direct them in their exertions for our 
safety. A quantity of iron, and the best bower an- 
chor, were thrown over. The chain being fastened, I 
soon found that we were at anchor, and to remain so 
long would founder our wreck. With great difficulty 
we filed a pin loose, which we backed out, and 4hen 
let the chain and small bower go. 

•" Having erected a shed on deck, and rigged a jury- 
mast, we set sail, with a small color flying as a signal 
of distress to any vessel that might see us. On the 
15 th we saw the stern of the steamboat about north- 
north-east, as near as I could judge, but could dis- 
cern no one on it. On Saturday, I found oar wreck 
was fast beating to pieces, and that it was necessary 
to bind it together, which we did with a cable. We 
also found it necessary to cut away the mast, as it 
pried up the deck. To do this was a Herculean 
labor; the only instrument we had was an oyster- 
knife, which we sharpened like a chisel, with a file. 
This was the work of a whole day." 

Mr. Ossian Gregory, another of those who survived, 
but who was doomed to lose his wife, and his wife's 
sister, spoke thus of the humane and philanthropic 
commander of the schooner Henry Camerdon : — 

"Amid the numerous notices of the disastrous wreck 
of the Pulaski, I have seen nothing descriptive of the 
actions of Captain Davis, of the schooner Henry Cam- 
erdon, who took thirty people from two portions of 
the wreck. It seems to me scarcely proper that it 
should go unnoticed. After Captain Davis had taken 
us on board, he prepared a large quantity of switchel, 
(molasses and water,) and biscuits ; then, while we 
were gathered around him, impatiently waiting the 
much-needed refreshment, he sank on his knees, and 
thanked God that he had heard his prayers, — uttered 
the day before, when he had seen pieces of the 
wreck, — that he might be the means of rescue to 
those who might yet be living of the sufferers; he 

6 



82 STEAMBOAT DISASTERS. 

asked that the sufferings we had endured, and the 
escape we had made, might impress on our hearts a 
deep sense of the divine mercy and goodness. He 
then gave us what he had prepared. His schooner 
was unprovided with spirits of any sort, — he being a 
temperance man, — but we found that heated vinegar 
answered every purpose in reviving those who were 
nearly exhausted. That Captain Davis's vessel 
should have been the only one, of all those seen by 
us, that came to our assistance ; that he should not 
only have prayed, but likewise have watched for us, 
are matters not to be forgotten." 

The following just tribute and grateful acknowl- 
edgement was subsequently responded to and signed 
by every survivor of this catastrophe : — 

" To Captain Henry Davis, of the schooner Henry 
Camerdon, they acknowledge a high and imperisha- 
ble debt of gratitude. His arm, under Heaven, saved 
them, — after a long and unutterably terrible scene of 
suffering, — at a moment when despair was fastening 
upon every heart, — and physical strength was sink- 
ing under the cravings of hunger and thirst. The 
stormy ocean, upon which they had floated for nearly 
five days and nights, in momentary fear of death, still 
rolling around and over them in its fury, — and fol- 
lowed by the insatiate monsters of the deep, ready to 
devour them, — at this awful hour did this humane 
man come to their rescue, at considerable risk to his 
crew and vessel. To him, then, we offer our deepest 
and warmest gratitude and praise, and feel assured 
that his own approving conscience, and a more ap- 
proving God, will here and hereafter reward him for 
his noble deed, — the simple record of which will ever 
speak his' high and deserved eulogium." 

There are many interesting, as well as painful in- 
cidents, connected with the fate of the Pulaski, which 
have been related by those who have seen and con- 
versed with persons saved from the wreck. Amongst 
others, the following is told of a Mr. Ridge, from New 



STEAM-PACKET PULASKI. 83 

Orleans, and a Miss Onslow, from one of the southern 
states, two "of the unfortunates who were picked up 
on the fifth day. It is stated of the gentleman, that 
he had been sitting on the deck alone, for half an 
hour previous to the accident. Another gentleman, 
who was walking near him at the time of the explo- 
sion, was thrown overboard, and he himself was pre- 
cipitated nearly over the side of the boat and stunned. 
He recovered, immediately, as he supposed, when he 
heard some one remark, " Get out the boats, she is 
sinking." He was not acquainted with a solitary 
individual in the boat. Under such circumstances, it 
is as natural to suppose that he would feel quite as 
much concern for himself as for any one else. He 
was consequently among the foremost of those who 
sought the small boat for safety, and .was about to 
step into it, when he discovered a young lady, whom 
he recognised as one whose appearance had at sundry 
times, during the passage, arrested his attention. Her 
protector was the gentleman who, while walking on 
deck, had been blown overboard. He sprang towards 
her, to take her into the small boat, but, in the crowd 
and confusion, he lost sight of her, and supposed she 
was with some other friend. During his fruitless 
search, the small boat shoved off. The wreck was 
fast sinking ; the night rang with the prayers and 
shrieks of the helpless and drowning. He turned 
away in despair, and tumbled over a coil of small 
rope. Hope, like an expiring spark, brightened again ; 
he caught up the rope, lashed together a couple of 
settees, threw them upon a piece of an old sail and a 
small empty cask, and, thus equipped, launched upon 
the element. It was all the work of a moment. He 
believed death inevitable, and that effort was the last 
grasp at life. 

His vessel bore him up much better than he had 
expected ; and he was consoling himself with his 
escape, such as it was, while others were perishing 
all around him, when he discovered a female strug- 



84 STEAMBOAT DISASTERS. 

gling for life, almost within his grasp. He left his 
ark, swam twice his length, seized his object, and re- 
turned safely to his craft again, — which proved suffi- 
cient to sustain them both, but with their heads and 
shoulders only above water. The female was the 
young lady for whom he had lost his passage in the 
small boat. She fancied their float would be unable 
to support both, and said to him, " You will have to 
let me go to save yourself." He replied, " We live or 
die together." Soon after, they drifted upon a piece 
of the wreck, — probably a part of the same floor or 
partition torn asunder by the explosion, — which, with 
the aid of the settees, fastened beneath it, proved suf- 
ficient to keep them out of water. About this time, 
one of the small boats came towards them, but al- 
ready heavily loaded ; he implored them to take in 
the young lady ; but she said; no, she could but die, 
— he had saved her life, and she could not leave him. 
They were fairly at sea, in a scorching climate, and 
without the least morsel to eat or drink ; the young 
lady in her night clothes, and himself with nothing 
upon him but his shirt and a thin pair of pantaloons 
already much torn. 

Of the packet which had borne them all in quiet 
and safety but half an hour before, nothing was to be 
seen but scattered pieces of the wreck. The small 
boat was on her way to the shore ; their own craft, 
being light and lightly loaded, drifted fast away from 
a scene indescribably heart-rending, and which he 
still shudders to think of. At daylight, nothing was 
visible to them but the heavens and a waste of water. 
In the course of the day, they came in sight of land, 
and for a time were confident of reaching it ; but, 
during the succeeding night, the wind changed, and 
soon after daylight, the next morning, the land had 
vanished, and with it their hopes of escaping from 
their dreadful dilemma. 

On the third day, a sail hove in sight, but she was 
entirely beyond hailing distance. When found, they 
were sadly burned by the sun, starved and exhausted, 



STEAM-PACKET PULASKI. 



85 



though still in possession of their faculties, and able 
to move and talk. But their pain and suffering was 
not without its pleasures and enjoyment ; the roman- 
tic part of the story of their expedition is yet to come, 
and there is no telling how much longer they would 
have subsisted on the same food that seems to have 
aided, at least, in sustaining them so well such an 
incredible length of time. The intrepidity he dis- 
played, the risk he ran, the danger he incurred for, 
and, above all, the magnanimity he evinced in saving 




her life, strangers as they were to each other, at the 
imminent hazard of his own, elicited from her at once 
the warmest feelings of gratitude towards him, and, 
before the tortures of hunger and thirst commenced, 
kindled that passion which burns nowhere as it 
burns in woman's bosom. On the other hand, her 
good sense, her fortitude, and presence of mind at 
the most perilous moment, and particularly her readi- 
ness to meet and share with him the fate which 
awaited them, excited on his part an attachment 
which was neither to be disguised nor conquered. 
8 



86 STEAMBOAT DISASTERS. 

And there, upon the "waters wild," amid the terror 
which surrounded, and the fate which threatened 
them, in the presence only of an all-seeing God, did 
they pledge their mutual love, and declare, if their 
lives were spared, that their destiny, which misfor- 
tune had united, should then be made as inseparable 
as escape from it now seemed impossible. 

After their rescue, he informed her that a sense of 
duty impelled him to apprize her, that, by the mis- 
fortune which had befallen them, he had lost every 
dollar he possessed on earth, (amounting to about 
twenty-five thousand dollars,) that he was in " pov- 
erty to his very lips," a beggar amongst strangers, 
without the means of paying for a single meal of 
victuals ; and, painful as was the thought of separa- 
tion to him, he offered to release her from the engage- 
ment, if it was her choice to leave him. She burst 
into tears at the very thought of separation, and asked 
him if he thought it was possible for the poverty of 
this world to drive them to a more desperate extremi- 
ty than that which they had already suffered together. 
He assured her of his willingness to endure for her 
the same trial again, and of the joy, more than he 
could express, which he felt at finding her so willing 
to fulfil her engagement, — which was soon after con- 
summated. It was not till then that he was made ac- 
quainted with the fact, that his lady love was heiress 
to an estate worth two hundred thousand dollars. 
Who would not be shipwrecked ! And, henceforth, 
who will say, " matches are not made in heaven !" 

The number of passengers on board was about one 
hundred and fifty. We give a list of them as far as 
we have been able to procure their names : — 

Dr. Ash. Mr. E. L. Barney. 

Mr. J. Auze. Mr. Bennett. 

Mr. H. S. Ball. Mr. L. Bird. 

Mrs. H. S. Ball, and nurse, Mrs. Britt. 

and ehild, and servant. Mr. A Brower. 



STEAM-PACKET PULASKI. 



87 



Mr. A Burns. 

Judge Cameron. 

Mr. N. C. Carter. 

Miss Clarke. 

Mr. Clifton. 

Mr. J. H. Couper. 

Mr. G.W. Coy. 

Mrs. G. W. Coy, and child. 

Rev. E. Crofts. 

Dr. Cumming. 

Mrs. Gumming, and servant. 

Mr. Davis. 

Mrs. Davis. 

Miss Drayton. 

Colonel Dunham. 

Mrs. Dunham. 

Mr. W. Edings. 

Mrs. Edings, and child. 

Mr. H. Eldridge. 

Mr. Evans. 

Mr. B. W. Fosdick. 

Mr. W. W. Fosdick. 

Mrs. W. Frazer, and child. 

Mr. Freeman. 

Mr. R. L. Greenwood. 

Miss Greenwood. 

Mr. O. Gregory. 

Mrs. Gregory. 

Mr. A. Hamilton. 

Miss Heald. 

Major Heath. 

Capt. Hubbard. 

Mrs. Hubbard 

Col. Hudson. 

Mr. G. Huntington. 

Mr. R. Hutchinson. 

Mrs. Hutchinson, and two 

children, and servant. 
Mr. E. W. Innis. 
Mr. S. Keith. 
Mr. G. B. Lamar. 



Mr. Charles Lamtfr. 
Mr. W. Lamar. 
Mr. T. Lamar. 

Mrs. Lamar. 

Miss Rebecca Lamar. 

Miss M. Lamar. 

Miss R. J. Lamar. 

Miss E. Lamar. 

Miss C. Lamar. 

Mr. S. Livermore. 

Mr. Longworth. 

Mrs. Longworth. 

Mr. A. Lovejoy. 

Mrs. Mackay, and child, and 

servant. 
Mr. Merritt. 
Mrs. Merritt, and child. 
Miss Mikell. 
Mr. S. MiUer. 
Mr. F. M'Rea. 
Rev. Mr. Murray. 
Mrs. Murray. 
Miss Murray. 
Master Murray. 
Mr. H. B. Nichols. 
Mrs. Nightingale, and child, 

and servant. 
Mr. S. B. Parkman. 
Master Parkman. 
Miss A. Parkman. 
Miss C. Parkman. 
Miss. T. Parkman. 
Capt. R. W. Pooler. 
Mr. R. W. Pooler, Jr. 
Mr. B. Pooler. 
Mr. E. B. Pringle. 
Mrs. Pringle, and child. 
Miss Pringle, and nurse. 
Judge Rochester. 
Mr. T. C. Rowane 
Mr. Rutledge. 



88 



STEAMBOAT DISASTERS. 



Mrs. Rutledge. 

Miss Rutledge. 

Mr. J. Seabrook. 

Mr. Robert Seabrook. 

Mr. B. F. Smith. 

Mrs. B. F. Smith. 

Mr. Noah Smith. 

Mrs. N. Smith. 

Dr. Stewart, 

Mrs. Stewart, and servant. 

Mr. W. A. Stewart. 

Mr. W. C. N. Swift, 

Mr. Charles H. Tappan. 

Mrs. Taylor. 



Miss Trappier. 

Major Twiggs and son. 

Mrs. Wagner, and child, and 

servant. 
Mr. T. W. Waley. 
Mr. R. D. Walker. 
Mr. C. Ward. 
Master T. Whalley. 
Master W. Whalley. 
Dr. Wilkins. 
Mrs. Wilkins, and child. 
Rev. J. Loring Woart. 
Mrs. J. Loring Woart. 
Mr. Z. A. Zeuchtenburg. 



It is stated that the whole number saved was fifty- 
nine. We give the names of all as far as we have 
been able to learn ; including those belonging to the 
boat : — 



Mr. B. Brown, 

Mr. Burns. 

Mr. E. L. Barney. 

Mr. Chicken, (chief engineer. 

Mr. G. M. Clifton. 

Mr. J. H. Couper. 

Mr. Thomas Downing. 

Mr. Edings. 

Mr. Eldridge. 

Mrs. Frazer, and child, 

Mr. Warren Freeman. 

Mr. Greenwood. 

Mr. O. Gregory. 

Mr. A Hamilton 

Major Heath. 

Mr. Hibbard (the mate.) 

Captain Hubbard 

Mr. R. Hutchinson. 

Mr. E. Joseph. 



Mr. G. B. Lamar. 
Mr. Charles Lamar. 
Miss Rebecca Lamar. 
) Mr. A. Lovejoy. 
Mrs. Nightingale, and child, 

and servant. 
Mr. R. W. Pooler. 
Mr. R. W. Pooler, Jr. 
Mr. Robert Seabrook. 
Mrs. N. Smith. 
Mr. C. W. M. Swift. 
Mr. C. B. Tappan. 
Major Twiggs, and son. 
Mr. D. Walker, and nephew. 
Mr. C. Ward. 
Mr. G. West. 
Master T. Whalley. 
Master W. Whalley. 
Mr. Z. A. Zeuchtenburg. 



Of the boat hands tnere were also saved two fire- 
men, two deck hands, and two negro women. 



STEAM-PACKET PULASKI. 89 

From the Rev. Mr. Sweetser of Worcester, Mass., 
we have received the following brief notice of the 
Rev. J. L. Woart :— 

" Rev. J. Loring Woart, was a native of Newbury- 
port. He graduated at Harvard University, in the class 
of 1828. He was esteemed as a scholar and beloved as 
a companion. After spending some time as a private 
tutor, in Virginia, he prepared himself for the minis- 
try, and was ordained in the Episcopal church. He 
was for several years a devoted, and much beloved, 
pastor of the church in Swedesborough, N. J. This 
charge he was obliged to resign on account of the 
feeble health of his wife ; and, after a foreign voyage, 
he was settled at Tallahassee, in Florida. In this 
parish he engaged the affection and confidence of his 
people. He was an ardent and faithful minister, of 
clear and active piety. At the time of his death he 
was on his way, with his wife, to visit his parents in 
New England. From the time of the explosion, until 
his decease, he was the comfort and support of those 
who shared with him a fragment of the wreck. The 
power of his religion was manifested throughout the 
whole of the trying scene. His wife died in his arms 
from exhaustion, and he soon after expired from the 
same cause. Their only child was at the time with 
Mrs. Woart's parents in Yirginia, and still survives." 

The persons by the name of Parkman, were the 
family of S. B. Parkman, of Savannah, and formerly 
of Westborough, Mass. 

Mrs. H. S. Ball was a daughter of Walter Chan- 
ning, Esq., of Boston. 

The old gentleman, from Buffalo, who was drowned 
in landing, was Judge Rochester, formerly a member 
of Congress from Baltimore. 

Mrs. Nightingale, one of the surviving few, is the 
daughter of John A. King, Esq., of New York, and a 
grand-daughter of the late distinguished Rufus King. 
During the whole of the perils through which they 



90 STEAMBOAT DISASTERS. 

passed, she and Mrs. Frazer displayed much fortitude 
and heroism. They owe the preservation of their 
own and their children's lives, under Providence, to 
the coolness and intrepidity of Mr. Couper and his 
assistants. 

There are many affecting incidents connected with 
this melancholy catastrophe, — some of which we 
subjoin : — 

The following is deeply affecting. The day before 
those on the wreck of the promenade-deck were picked 
up by Captain Davis, the persons on that wreck had 
descried at a distance what they took for a sail. 
They waited for some time, in hopes that it would 
near them ; but in vain. It seemed to be stationary ; 
and they had no means of propelling their crazy raft 
towards it. At length, one of them, Mr. Noah Smith, 
of Augusta, Georgia, announced his intention to swim 
to it for aid ; he plunged into the water, and, for a 
while, buffeted the waves with a lusty stroke. His 
wife, one of the tenants of the raft, watched his exer- 
tions with an anxious eye and a beating heart. He 
seemed on the point of succeeding in his gallant and 
perilous enterprise ; all at once, however, his progress 
appeared to be arrested. His efforts grew fainter and 
fainter ; he was evidently struggling to keep himself 
upon the surface ; but his strength failed. He sunk, 
and the waves snatched him forever from the fond 
gaze of his distracted wife. The object which he had 
taken for a sail was Major Heath's raft; and, it is 
supposed, that when he came near enough to discover 
his mistake, his hopes, his spirit, and his strength, 
failed together. 

The incident recorded below will move every heart; 
the rather, as there is no doubt the gallant boy 
perished : 

Nearly three hours after the disaster, Mr. Hibbert, 
and the others in the small boat, saw a single indi- 
vidual upon a small fragment of the wreck. t.Q whose 



©TEAM-PACKET PULASKI. 91 

rescue they went. This was Judge Rochester. When 
taken on hoard the boat, he informed them that when 
the Pulaski went down, he saved himself with a set- 
tee, to which he clung for about an hour, when he 
drifted in contact with a fragment of the wreck, 
which sustained a boy who came in company with 
nim from Pensacola. The boy, seeing that the settee 
scarcely buoyed him up, insisted upon changing 
places, — saying that he, being young and strong, was 
best able to save himself on the settee. Judge Roch- 
ester expressed great solicitude for the safety of this 
generous boy, but nothing certain was ever known of 
his fate. The boy informed the Judge that Mr. 
Cameron had started with him, but that ? his strength 
failing, he had lost his hold and sunk. 

When the news of the explosion of the Pulaski first 
reached New York, and it was believed that all on 
board had perished, the father of one of the ladies 
who was known to have taken passage on board that 
boat, proceeded immediately to Baltimore, where he 
arrived, without hearing farther from the wreck. On 
entering a public house, he inquired of the landlord 
whether he had received any later intelligence from 
the Pulaski. " None," was the answer. " Were 
none saved?" " None, it is believ r ed, but the sixteen 
first mentioned." " Do you know their names 1 " 
" I do not remember them all, but the first was Mrs. 

. She and the others are safe and well." The 

inquirer fainted, — it was his daughter. 

One of the most painfully affecting incidents is this: > 
Soon . after the explosion, while the small boat was 
lying off, one of the passengers, frantic with alarm, 
and without knowing what he was about, jumped 
towards it, but fell far short. He turned at once, — 
sensible of his situation, and probably remembering 
whom he had left behind, — with the view of regaining 
the wreck. His wife screamed to him by name, — 
"Where are you? where are you?" He replied 
from the, waves, "I'm here, my dear; I'm here." 



92 STEAMBOAT DISASTERS. 

"Husband, I'm coming," she cried, and plunged 
headlong into the sea. 

Another incident, of painful interest, connected with 
this fatal disaster, was the case of Captain Brooks, of 
the schooner Ploughboy, of Boston, who, having been 
driven south during a gale, fell in with a part of the 
wreck, and saw a lady floating, in the storm; but 
was unable to save her, owing to the violence of the 
wind, and the roughness of the sea. We can but 
imagine the feelings of the heart, thus to behold a 
helpless female tossed on the billows of the deep, and 
hurried to certain death, without the possibility of 
affording aid. 

Unlike the steam-packet Home, the Pulaski was 
strongly and thoroughly built; was intended, and 
well adapted, for a sea boat ; and, in her previous and 
last trip, had weathered in perfect safety one of the 
most severe of the periodical gales that are common 
off Cape Hatteras. But what avails all these advan- 
tages, when a power, more than sufficient to counter- 
act them all, is entrusted in the hands of those who 
are incapable or untrustworthy ? The miserable and 
reckless policy of employing engineers, who, if not 
actually ignorant of their duties, are at least careless, 
and often worthless, cannot be too strongly con- 
demned. Where the lives of hundreds are thus 
jeopardized, it is certainly the paramount duty of 
those to whom the responsibility belongs, to resolve, 
and to act upon that resolve, that no applicant for the 
important office of engineer, or even assistant-engi- 
neer, can be received without strong and undoubted 
evidence of his capability for that office. Nor should 
the mere knowledge of its duties be deemed sufficient; 
it is equally important that he be a man of practical 
information, of steady habits, and of a good moral 
character. 

The cause of this disaster, as is well known, was 
owing to the neglect or ignorance of the second engi- 



STEAM-PACKET PULASKI. 93 

neer, most probably the latter, in permitting the water 
to blow off or evaporate in the starboard boiler, and 
then introducing a large supply of the cold element 
on the heated copper ! No one, with any adequate 
knowledge of the causes, effects, and power of steam, 
could have doubted the disastrous result which ensued. 

One of the hands saved, had, a few moments before 
the explosion, examined the steam-guage, and found 
it fluctuating rapidly from twenty-six to twenty- 
nine inches. Another had just left the engine-room, 
when he heard, as the engineer tried the water-cock, 
the peculiar shrill whistling sound produced by the 
unusual pressure of steam ; and, in a few seconds* the 
fatal explosion took place, scattering death and destruc- 
tion throughout the living freight who were reposing 
in fancied security, and causing a degree of misery, 
horror, and despair, which, in the language of a sur- 
vivor, "neither language can paint, nor tongue utter. 
The thought of it makes me shudder." 

The appropriate and touching remarks which fol- 
low, we extract from a sermon delivered by the Rev. 
S. G. Bulfinch, in the Unitarian church in Washing- 
ton, the day after the news had been received of the 
loss of the steam-packet Pulaski. The preacher, 
having long resided in the South, was enabled to 
speak with personal knowledge of many among the 
victims of this awful event : — 

" When, as at the present time, the sympathies of 
a nation are called forth by an event which has filled 
hundreds of hearts with agony; when suddenly 
whole families have been summoned from this life, 
and the honored, the energetic, the lovely, the inno- 
cent, have found a common grave in the depths of the 
ocean, it is only in the recognition of a Supreme Dis- 
posing Power that we can find aught to cheer us in 
the saddening view which is thus presented of human 
destiny. Long will extensive portions of our com- 
munity feel the loss of those to whose wisdom and 
public spirit, they had entrusted interests of high im- 



94 STEAMBOAT DISASTERS. 

portance. Long will many a heart feel a pang in the 
memory of the wise and kind physician now no more. 
Long will they who have, in previous afflictions, 
listened to the consolations of the faithful pastor, 
think sadly on that spot of the wild ocean, where elo- 
quence and piety found an early grave. And long, 
when the young and the lovely meet, will the bright 
and innocent smile of youth be saddened at the re- 
membrance of those, as young and as lovely as they, 
whom none shall behold again till the sea gives up 
its dead. 

They are gone ! and one, to whom many of them 
were well known, may be permitted to testify that a 
richer harvest of all that was noble and lovely in 
character, has seldom, with equal suddenness, been 
gathered into the treasure-house of God. But was 
not His providence there ? Yes ; though their prayers 
seemed to rise in vain, let none believe that the Crea- 
tor, in that awful hour, beheld not his suffering chil- 
dren. He heard their cries ; He witnessed their dis- 
tress; and though He interrupted not the order of 
nature, for their rescue, we may yet believe that He 
was present to sustain the courage and strength of the 
survivors, and to receive the dying to that mercy 
which they then with agony invoked. 

" While we take warning to be ready for that hour 
which may come to us when we think not of it, we 
commend to the Father of mercies, in humble trust, 
the spirits of His children, and in this, and in all His 
dispensations, we acknowledge and adore the God of 
Providence. " 



STEAM-PACKET PULASKI. 95 

LOSS OF THE PULASKI 

Behold yon steamer, gayest of the gay, 

As o'er the main she proudly skims her way ; 

Stately she moves, with a majestic grace, 

And lofty bearing, to her destined place ; 

And where is that ? vain mortals, do you know ? 

Where is she bound ? to pleasure or to wo ? 

She wends her way, and lifts her lofty prow, — 
At her approach the obsequious waters bow, — 
The sea gods view her with their eager eyes, 
Intending soon to take her by surprise ; 
But she, regardless of their foul intent, 
With banners flying, o'er the surface went. 

" Night, sable goddess, from her ebon throne," 
Had o'er the waters her dark mantle thrown ; 
The moon was waning, and the stars looked sad, 
And nature seemed in mourning garments clad ; 
And while this steamer ploughs upon the deep, 
Where are her inmates ? safely locked in sleep. — 
One dreams of love, another of his gold, 
His heart's dear idol, half the sum untold ; 
One forms his plans for grandeur and display ; 
Another dreams of pleasures light and gay ; 
The infant slumbers on its mother's breast, 
In happy innocence by her caress'd ; 
The maiden dreams, — of what I cannot tell, — 
But Morpheus holds her in his drowsy spell ; 
Yet some, perchance, were not in his embrace, — ■ 
He flies the wretched, wheresoe'er the place. 

But now comes on my horror-stricken tale ! 
Shrink back my muse ! no wonder that you fail ! 
A scene like this can never be portrayed ! 
O, come, ye Nine, and lend your tuneful aid : 
When nought was heard except the ocean's dash ; 
None thought of danger till they heard the crash ! 
Tremendous ! then simultaneous prayers and cries 
Ascend at once to Him, who rules the skies. 



96 STEAMBOAT DISASTERS. 

In frantic agony, a mother wild 
Clasps to her breast a dear and only child, — 
He lifts his hands, and, with imploring eye, 
Cries, " Mother, mother, must we, must we die ?" 
i Alas ! the mother has not power to save, — 
1 They sink together 'neath the foaming wave. 

" My soul's best darling !" cries a doting wife, 
" Help, help, my husband ! save, O, save my life ! 
And our sweet child ! 0, God of heaven, save !" — 
They sink together while they mercy crave. 

An urchin boy clings to his father's side : 

His curly locks all dripping with the tide, — 

" What is it, father ? tell me, do, I pray, 

And O ! dear father, do not go away." 

** I '11 leave thee not, my son, my joy and pride," — 

And the rude billows could not them divide. 

The maiden fair, the youth, the hoary head, 
All lie promiscuous in their coral bed ; 
Some few were saved to tell the mournful tale 
Of those whose loss so many hearts bewail. 
And where 's the moral ? cannot we discern ? 
Have we that useful lesson yet to learn, 
That God is just ? and we 're at His command, 
Who holds the mighty waters in his hand ? 
And, though his judgments are above our sight 
'T is ours to bow, and own His ways are right. 



LOSS OF THE STEAMER MONMOUTH, 

On the Mississippi River, on her Passage from 
New Orleans for Arkansas River, October 31, 
1837: by which Melancholy Catastrophe up- 
wards of Three Hundred Emigrating Indians 
were drowned. 

The steamboat Monmouth left New Orleans for Ar- 
kansas River, with upwards of six hundred Indians 
on board, a portion of the emigrant Creek tribe, who 
were removing west under direction of the United 
States' government. In travelling up the Mississippi, 
through Prophet Island Bend, the steamer encoun- 
tered the ship Trenton, towed by the steamer Warren, 
descending the river. It was rather dark, being near 
8 o'clock in the evening, — and, through the mis- 
management of the officers, a collision took place be- 
tween the two vessels. The cabin of the Monmouth, 
shortly after, parted from the hull, drifting some dis- 
tance down the stream, when it broke into two parts, 
and emptied all within it into the river. There were 
six hundred and eleven Indians on board, but three 
hundred of whom were rescued. The bar-keepers and 
a fireman were the only persons attached to the Mon- 
mouth who lost their lives. 

The disaster was chiefly owing to the neglect of the 
officers of the Monmouth. She was running in a part 
of the stream, where, by the usages of the river, and 
the rules of the Mississippi navigation, "she had no 
right to go, and where, of course, the descending ves- 
sel did not expect to meet her. Here is another evi- 
dence of the gross carelessness of a class of men to 
whose charge we often commit our lives and'property. 

9 7 



98 STEAMBOAT DISASTERS. 

This unfortunate event is one in which every citi- 
zen of our country must feel a melancholy interest. 
Bowing before the superiority of their conquerors, 
these men were removed from their homes by the po- 
licy of our government. On their way to the spot 
selected by the white man for their residence, — reluc- 
tantly leaving the graves of their fathers, and the 
homes of their childhood, in obedience to the requisi- 
tions of a race before whom they seem doomed to be- 
come extinct, — an accident, horrible and unanticipated, 
brought death upon three hundred at once. Had they 
died, as the savage would die, upon the battle-field, 
in defence of his rights, and in the wars of his tribe, 
death had possessed little or no horror for them. But, 
in the full confidence of safety purchased by the con- 
cession and the compromise of all their savage chival- 
ry, confined in a vessel strange to their habits, and 
dying by a death strange and ignoble to their natures, 
the victims of a catastrophe they could neither foresee 
nor resist, — their last moments of life, (for thought 
has the activity of lightning in extremity,) must have 
been embittered by conflicting emotions, — horrible, 
indeed: regret at their submission; indignation at 
what seemed to them wilful treachery, and impotent 
threatenings of revenge upon the pale-faces, may have 
maddened their dying hour. 




ESCAPE OF THE CONSTITUTION, 

In a Tremendous Gale on Lake Erie, October, 
1837; wherein is shown the Coolness and In- 
trepidity of the Engineer of the Boat. 

One of the most thrilling incidents on record, took 
place on board the steamboat Constitution, during an 
awful gale on Lake Erie. It tends to show the hero- 
ism and strength of nerve of which humanity is some- 
times capable. We copy from an account written 
shortly after the occurrence. 

"In that fearful night, the steamboat Constitution, 
Capt. Appleby, was out amidst the terrors of the gale. 
By the glimpse caught at intervals, when the fitful 
storm for a moment broke away, the anxious and 
watchful commander was made aware of the critical 
situation of his boat, which was rapidly drifting in — 
under the hurricane power of the gale, which blew 
almost directly across the lake — toward the danger- 
ous reef, from which escape would have been impos- 
sible. He went directly to the engineer, and ordered 
on ' more steam. 5 The reply of the engineer was, 
that there was already as much on as the boilers 
would safely bear. 

"Again did the captain seek the deck, to see if his 
laboring boat was making headway, and again re- 
turned to the engine-room. He explained to the en- 
gineer their hazardous situation, and told him all 
hope was lost, if no more headway could be gained, 
but left the engineer to act his discretion in the crisis. 
A moment of reflection, and his decision was made. 
Life or death hung on the issue. Certain destruction 
awaited the boat and her devoted crew, in a few 



100 STEAMBOAT DISASTERS. 

brief minutes, if they did not gain upon the driving 
storm. This might be averted, if the boilers, already 
crowded to a fearful pressure, could yet bear a heavier 
strain, — and that he determined to try. True, the 
awful horrors of an explosion were vividly before 
him, — the mangled limbs, the scorched and lifeless 
bodies, the death-shrieks and the groans of the hap- 
less victims, were before his eyes, and on his ear. 
The alternative was a fearful one, yet it must be re- 
sorted to. 

" He coolly directed the heads of two barrels of oil 
to be broken in ; the furnaces were rapidly fed with 
wood dipped in the highly inflammable liquid, while 
two men, with ladles, dashed the oil into the flames. 
The intense heat which these combustibles created 
generated steam with the rapidity of lightning; and 
soon the resistless vapor forced up the safety-valve, 
and issued forth with tremendous violence, its sharp 
hissing being heard above the wild uproar of the wa- 
ters and the storm. 

" With a desperate and determined courage, which 
equals the most daring heroism that the page of his- 
tory has ever recorded, the engineer sat down upon 
the lever of the safety-valve^ to confine and raise the 
steam to the necessary power required to propel the 
boat against the drifting waves ! In this awful situ- 
ation he calmly remained, until the prodigious effort 
of the engine had forced the boat sufficiently off shore 
to be beyond the threatened danger. 

"This intrepid act was not a rash and* vain-glori- 
ous attempt to gain the applause of a multitude by a 
fool-hardy exposure of life, in some racing excursion ; 
it was not the deed of a drunken and reckless man, 
wickedly heedless of the safety of those whose lives 
were periled, — but it was the self-possessed and de- 
termined courage of one whose firmness is worthy of 
all admiration. We give it as it was told to us, as 
one of those frequent scenes of real life, whose actual 
realities are indeed f stranger than fiction.' " 



CONFLAGRATION OF THE ROYAL TAR, 

In Penobscot Bay, while on her Passage from St, 
John, N, B,, to Portland, Me,, October 25, 1836; 
by which Melancholy Event there were Thirty. 
Two Lives lost, and a Menagerie of Wild Ani' 
mals destroyed. 

The steamboat Royal Tar, commanded by Cap- 
tain Reed, left St. John, N. B., for Portland, on the 
21st, with from ninety to one hundred persons on 
board, including the crew. On deck were an elephant, 
two camels, several horses, and a number of animals 
in cages, composing a travelling menagerie. 

On the 25th of October, when crossing Penobscot 
Bay, and about two miles ofT the entrance of Fox 
Island Thoroughfare, it was found that the water was 
out of the boilers ; and, as the wind was blowing a hea- 
vy gale from the north-west at the time, it was deemed 
necessary to anchor the boat for the purpose of filling 
them. In about half an hour after, at 2 o'clock, P. M., 
she was discovered to be on fire near the coal-room. 
The engineer, with fifteen others, immediately jumped 
into the largest boat, and made for the nearest land, 
which they reached in safety in about foiir hours. 

The passengers were assembled, and on the point 
of sitting down to dinner, when it was first announced 
to them that the boat was on fire. For some time 
previous to this the crew had been engaged in un- 
availing efforts to extinguish it without giving the 
alarm. Had an earlier alarm been given, there is nnt 
much doubt, as many of the passenger* were ex- 
perienced men, that the fire might possibly na^e been 



104 STEAMBOAT DISASTERS. 

subdued ; or, at least, that the destruction of the boat 
might have been attended with much less loss of life 
and property. As it now was, however, all efforts to 
extinguish the flames seemed useless, and the only ap- 
parent hope of escape was to run the boat on shore. 
For this purpose the cable was slipped ; and the fore- 
sail having been consumed, a jib, the only available 
sail, was hoisted, but, the gale continuing, and the 
flames increasing with frightful rapidity, it was al- 
most immediately destroyed ; the tiller ropes, at the 
same time were burnt away, when the vessel came 
broadside to the wind; and being thus loosed from her 
moorings, without steam or sail, or power to guide the 
helm, she began to drift rapidly to sea. 

The captain, in the mean time, had secured the only 
remaining boat, and taken a position at a little dis- 
tance to the windward, while some two or three of the 
gentlemen passengers, Who were good swimmers, 
swam for it, and were taken in by him. Two of the 
boats had been left at St. John, to afford room on 
the deck for the caravan of animals ; thus depriving 
the passengers of a part of the usual means of escape 
in case of necessity. An attempt was made to put 
overboard a large omnibus, which might have facili- 
tated the escape of many, but its great weight (nearly 
two tons) rendered it impracticable to be done. 

The fire continued rapidly to gain ; and the scene 
at this time was truly terrific : the devouring element 
had spread nearly from stem to stern, and the passen- 
gers who yet remained, among whom were several 
women and children, were driven overboard by the 
flames, some throwing their infants over, and leaping 
after them, while others, both male and female, se- 
cured ropes to the vessel, and lowered themselves over 
the side ; but this precaution was rendered unavailing 
to many, by the ropes being burnt off. One man, hav- 
ing secured a quantity of silver dollars to his person, 
lowered himself to the water's edge, with the intention 
of seizing a spar, but no sooner had he let go his hold, 



CONFLAGRATION OP THE ROYAL TAR. 105 

than, owing to the weight of the silver, he sunk to 
rise no more. 

A small place forward, which, being to the wind- 
ward, had not yet taken fire, was crowded with the 
survivors, as well as the bowsprit and bobstay. Those 
on the quarter-deck were forced over by the intense 
heat, and such as survived hung to the davit tackles, 
and to the chains and ropes attached to the rudder. 
Many were suspended on ropes secured on deck, but, 
as the flames reached their frail dependence, they 
were precipitated into the sea, and perished. 

Six horses, belonging to the caravan, were backed 
overboard ; three of them instinctively swam towards 
the nearest land ; the other three swam around the 
boat until they sank exhausted. A large elephant, 
belonging to the menagerie, having retreated to that 
part of the boat which the fire had not reached, 
mounted his fore feet upon the rail, in which position 
he remained till about 4 o'clock, apparently calculat- 
ing, with the characteristic sagacity of the animal, the 
prospects of escape, until it became too hot for him, 
when he leaped overboard, carrying with him, as he 
slid down the vessel's side, several of the passengers 
who were still clinging there. His immense weight 
probably carried him to the bottom ere he rose, as he 
re-appeared, after some time, at a considerable distance. 
This animal also instinctively swam towards the 
nearest land ; but, as the boat was by this time drifted 
four or five miles out to sea, he must have perished. 
The rest of the menagerie, consisting of lions, tigers, 
and other animals of a like nature, were allowed to 
become a prey to the flames, as, on account of their 
ferocity, it was deemed dangerous to loose them. 

Immediately after the discovery of the fire, a signal 
of distress was hoisted, which, fortunately, was soon 
discovered by the United States Revenue Cutter, sta- 
tioned at Castine, then four or five miles to windward, 
which bore down to their relief. The persons in the 
small boat with Captain Reed, were then put on board 



106 STEAMBOAT DISASTERS. 

the cutter, and the captain commenced taking off those 
who yet clung to the ill-fated steamer. The cutter, 
unfortunately, had no boat sufficiently large to render 
assistance in taking off the sufferers ; and, as Lieuten- 
ant Dyer did not deem it prudent to approach very 
near the wreck, on account of his vessel being an 
armed one, fearing the fire might communicate to his 
powder, (!) the work of rescue was slow. 

Captain Reed, however, firmly and resolutely per- 
severed, though it was with some difficulty that he 
could obtain an efficient boat's crew to approach the 
wreck, they fearing that the elephant would come 
overboard and destroy the boat. The last boat left 
the wreck a little before sunset, with one solitary fran- 
tic female, the last on board, whose sister and child 
had both perished before her eyes. 

The prompt and praiseworthy decision of Captain 
Reed, in securing the boat, was the only means by 
which the life of a single individual remaining on 
board the boat could have been saved. The cutter 
landed the survivors about 8 o'clock, P. M., at Isle au 
Haut, where they received the most hospitable treat- 
ment from the inhabitants. 

The steamboat continued to drift to sea, and the 
light of the conflagration was visible till 9 o'clock in 
the evening, when it suddenly disappeared, and the 
boat was supposed to have sunk; being about twenty 
miles from the place where she took fire. 

The whole number of passengers on board the 
Royal Tar was eighty-five, of whom twenty-eight 
were lost, — twenty males and eight females. Four 
persons attached to the boat were also lost, making 
thirty-two in all. Annexed is a list of those who 
were lost : — 

Dennis O'Brien. Charles Curtain. 

Fanny O'Brien Mary Curtain, and child. 

Mary Burne, (stewardess.) Peggy Cochran. 

Mary Caton. Edward C. Curtis. 






CONFLAGRATION OF THE ROYAL TAR. 



107 



Mary Dorrough. 

John Day, (boat hand.) 

Charles Ford, (boat hand.) 

Mary Hickley. 

John Hogan. 

Mary Hogan. 

Eliza Hogan. 



Thomas Mehony. 

William Prince. 

Nicholas Phremba. 

John Ryan. 

John Siller. 

Mary Smith, and child. 

Sarah Smith. 



There were also William, a boy ; an old lady ; a 
child ; and four others, whose names are unknown. 

We give all the names of those saved, we have been 
able to collect : — 



John Ansley, St. John. 
Capt. Atkins, (pilot,) and son. 
W. Black, (mate.) 
E. Brown, (steward.) 
Joshua Burgess, Boston. 
Ezra H. Carron, Amesbury. 
William Cipp, New York. 
John Day ton, Exeter. 
George Eaton, St. Andrews. 
Captain Fowler. 
Cornelius Fuller, Boston. 
H. H. Fuller, Bedford. 
H. R. Fuller, Bedford. 
Andrew Garrison, St. John. 
John Gousan, Lowell. 
Capt. J. Hammond, East 

Greenwich. 
George Hodges, Boston. 
Mary Linton, St. Andrews. 



John Lowry, Charlestown. 
E. H. Mahlman, Charlestown. 
Miles Mamply, Frederickton. 
William Marjoram. 
N. Marshall, (engineer.) 
W. M'Faggon, (colored boy.) 
John M'Keely, (boat hand.) 
Oliver M'Glirkey, Gorham. 
Oliver H. Patten, Greenfield. 
Stimson Patten, St. John. 
Captain Reed. 
William Sherwood, British 

Consul, Portland. 
Edward Stephens, New York. 
Capt. Waite, Portland. 
J. W. Wentworth, Oswego. 
G. Willaughway, England. 
Henry R. Wheeler, Oxford. 



There was but one person burnt, of the whole num- 
ber lost ; the remaining thirty-one met an easier death 
in the bosom of the yawning deep. The person burnt 
was an aged Irish woman, who was not seen on deck 
at all. 

Captain Waite, of Portland, held on to a rope until 
it was burnt off; he then swam to the rudder, got his 
arm into the chain, and, for an hour and a half, thus 
sustained himself and a lady and a gentleman, — hold- 



108 STEAMBOAT DISASTERS. 

ing the former by her hand, while the latter held on to 
his leg. 

The animals composing the menagerie consisted of 
one elephant, two dromedaries, two lions, one leopard, 
one gnu, one Bengal tiger, with various smaller ani- 
mals ; connected with which was Burgess's collection 
of serpents and birds, and Dexter' s locomotive mu- 
seum. 

We give some other statements connected with this 
fatal accident, which will be found to possess interest. 

The Royal Tar had been four days out, having ex- 
perienced contrary winds. The chief engineer had 
been up all night, and was in his berth, and the en- 
gine was under the direction of Mr. Marshall, the sec- 
ond engineer, who, at the time of the disaster, had 
entrusted the care to a fireman, who was acting as his 
assistant. The son of the pilot discovered that the 
lowest cock refused to yield water, which indicated a 
deficiency. The lad told his father, who notified 
Marshall, but the latter disregarded the information, 
and gave both pilot and boy to understand that he 
knew his own business best. In a few minutes the 
empty boiler became red-hot, and ignited a couple of 
wedges placed on it to aid in supporting the elephant. 

The moment Captain Reed looked down the grating, 
he perceived that the utter destruction of the steamer 
was inevitable, and gave orders to slip the anchor, 
hoist distress signals, and let down the boats. He 
took charge of the first, and lay alongside a few 
minutes, and then took on board as many passengers 
as she could carry. Sixteen others jumped in, peli 
mell, into the long boat, hanging to the cranks, and cut 
the ropes and let her go. At this moment the Reve- 
nue Cutter rounded Fox Island. The hands on board 
Captain Reed's small boat, when the cutter was first de- 
scried, refused to pull for her, as it was against the 
wind. He, however, peremptorily commanded their 
obedience, exclaiming — " I was captain of the big boat, 



CONFLAGRATION OF THE ROYAL TAR. 109 

and I will be captain of the small one ; and if any one 
refuses to run for the cutter, I '11 thro whim overboard." 

The schooner soon perceived the condition of the 
steamer, and bore down towards her with a fair wind, 
but dared not to approach very near, as she had pow- 
der on board. The captain of the cutter was not on 
board, and, for a time, Captain Reed seized her helm. 
He then returned to the steamer, in his boat, and took 
another freight. The pilot of the cutter was de- 
spatched with Tier gig, but though he passed under 
her stern, within thirty feet, and saw the perishing 
creatures hanging to the ropes, and calling on him to 
come near enough to take them off, he was so much 
terrified that he returned without a single soul ! 

Captain Reed, in his letter to the agent of the compa- 
ny, thus remarked : "I have no blame to attach to 
anybody as regards the fire. Had our fire-engine 
been on deck, we could have put the fire out easily 
It is a great oversight, having a fire-engine to worn: 
below." 

Mr. H. H. Fuller, a gentleman connected with the 
menagerie, thus related the account of the perils he 
had passed through : — 

" Immediately after she came to anchor, fire was 
discovered around the whole space occupied by the 
boiler, below the deck. Those who first became 
aware of the fact, fled to the boats. At this time, I 
was sick in my berth ; my attention was first called 
to the fact, that something unusual had taken place, 
by observing that every person but myself had left 
the cabin. When I reached the deck, I saw the long- 
boat, full of people, a quarter of a mile to the leeward; 
they were rowing hard, and were soon out of sight. 
The small boat, in which was Captain Reed, who 
took possession of it to prevent its following the long- 
boat to the leeward, lay about fifty yards astern ; 
three persons swam off, and were taken into her, 
though the wind was then blowing a gale, and a tre- 

10 



110 STEAMBOAT DISASTERS. 

mendous sea was running. He then bore away for 
the land to windward, about two miles. 

" At this time a great many persons jumped over- 
board and were drowned. The screams of women 
and children, the horrid yells of the men, the roaring 
of the storm, and the awful confusion, baffle descrip- 
tion. The pilot, Captain Atkins, of Portland, and 
the mate, Mr. Black, of St. John, with the assistance 
of those who still had their senses, after hoisting a 
signal of distress, slipped the cable and made sail. 
The sails, however, caught fire, and were soon burnt 
The steamer then broached to, and was shortly com- 
pletely enveloped in flames amidships. The fire in- 
terrupted all communication between the fore and 
aft ; and neither those in the bows, nor those in the 
stern, could see or know the fate of each other. All 
but myself fled from the quarter-deck. I sat on the 
stern rail, till my coat took fire. I looked round, and 
seeing not a soul around me in the boat, I fastened a 
rope to the tiller chain, and dropped over the stern, 
where I found about fifteen others hanging in differ- 
ent places, mostly in the water. In fact, the water 
washed over all of us almost every minute. 

"While holding on, I saw several drown; some 
were beaten from their hold by the waves, and some 
falling into the sea for want of strength to sustain 
themselves any longer. I had fastened my rope to 
the chain, which was again fastened by iron bolts, 
which held out against the fire much longer than the 
other parts, to which many were suspended. I wound 
the rope round my neck and thigh ; and was enabled 
to bear up the additional weight of three men and a 
lady, who hung securely to me. Not far from me 
hung Captain Atkins, the pilot : he held up a lady 
with his feet ; her arms failed her at last, but he 
caught her with his feet, and held her full five min- 
utes, till a sea washed her off, and she drifted by ; a 
kind wave threw her up against an Irishman, hang- 
ing on my left, and she seized hold of him, and as- 



CONFLAGRATION OF THE ROYAL TAR. Ill 

sisted, perhaps, by our encouraging, and the Irish- 
man's also, she kept up. 

" When the cutter's boat passed under our stern, 
Atkins and I begged for God's sake that she would 
take those two, even if they left us, as we thought 
we could weather it a little longer. The gig passed 
within six feet of those two, who, we expected, would 
be lost every minute. The officer of the gig was 
afraid, and left them and us to our fate. We were 
all saved — that is, the lady, the Irishman, the pilot, 
and those attached to my person— by Captain Reed, 
in his small boat, and conveyed to the cutter. She 
was not in sight when I first went on deck. I had 
been in the water, beating about under the stern, two 
hours before I was taken off. 

"I cannot conclude this statement without express- 
ing my deep conviction that the course pursued by 
Captain Reed was the only one which could have 
rescued those who were saved, after the long-boat 
put off to leeward. Captain Reed saved, by making 
trips in his small boat, all who were preserved after 
that injudicious movement." 

The following interesting statement was furnished 
by Mr. William Marjoram, one of the surviving pas- 
sengers : — 

" At 2 o'clock, P. M., the engineer reported to the 
captain that the water was all out of the boiler : the 
captain immediately ordered the anchor to be let go, 
without first ascertaining whether there was any 
danger of the boiler being red-hot, which was then 
the case. Some men were then sent down to pump 
water into it. In a few minutes, the black boy came 
running on deck, crying out, ''Fire? Captain Reed was 
heard to tell him to hold his tongue. The boats were 
immediately lowered; fifteen got into one, and Captain 
Reed and four men into the other, and both rowed to- 
wards the shore. The scene was now truly awful — 
men, women, and children, running in all directions, 
with their clothes in their hands. In consequence of 



112 STEAMBOAT DISASTERS. 

of seeing the captain leave the boat, they became par- 
alyzed. The fire was now raging through the decks ; 
the mate gave orders to slip the cable. The jib was 
now hoisted, and the mainsail partly got up ; but such 
was the confusion on board that it was impossible to 
obey the order. Several were by this time seen some 
distance from the boat, on pieces of wood, and, I fear, 
were drowned. 

As the fire raged, the scene became truly awful. 
Men, women, and children, were seen taking their last 
farewell of each other; some lashing boxes to their 
backs, loaded with dollars; and some casting their 
property into the sea. A sail was at last seen from 
behind the land, which, on heaving in sight, bore 
away for us. The boat Captain Reed was in imme- 
diately made for us : all eyes were now directed on her 
as the only hope to rescue them from a watery grave. 
Several, by this time, had caught fire, and jumped 
into the sea ; and some were holding on to the stern. 
The fire had now taken possession of the waist, and 
prevented any communication to the stern. I recollect 
passing over the cages of wild beasts when they were 
on fire ; and well might I say with the psalmist David, 
{ My soul is among lions, eve?i those that are set on fire. 1 

The cutter had now nearly reached us, and every 
one preparing to jump on board ; but what was our 
consternation, when we beheld the cutter heave in 
stays and stand for shore ! But she was boarded by 
Captain Reed, who put what men he had into her, and 
rowed for the steamer, and took some off the stern. 
The cutter's boat rowed round the steamer, but was 
afraid to come near, as was the cutter, forgetting they 
could have thrown their powder overboard. The boat 
now continued going to and from the wreck, taking the 
people off. I was three hours on the wreck, and was 
taken off by the captain. The moment I got on board 
of the cutter, I begged Captain Dyer to carry her 
alongside, but he refused; saying, the elephant would 
jump on board. I then requested him to sail the 



CONFLAGRATION OP THE ROYAL TAR. 113 

cutter under the bows, and ask the keeper to lash his 
leg to the windlass ; but it was of no avail : he ordered 
me to go below, which I did lor a short time. 

" I again went on deck, and helped the people out 
of the boat as they came alongside, remarking every 
time that they brought no women with them. About 
6 o'clock, the boat came with only three persons on 
board, — Mr. Brown, late steward of the boat, and a 
colored sailor, that belonged to the steamboat, who 
was the means of saving a great many lives, having 
been in the boat a long time. He requested me to 
take his place. The cutter-master said he could stay 
no longer. I, however, jumped into the boat, and 
rowed away. On reaching the wreck, there was one 
woman holding on the bowsprit, with a child in her 
arms, and another in the water, with her clothes 
burnt off, holding on by a piece of rope : she let go, 
and before I could get to her, the child was drowned ; 
but we saved the woman, who was nearly dead ; but, 
after using the means which are generally adopted, 
she revived. 

" Such a dreadful sacrifice of life, I think, has never 
occurred before, through neglect and want of coolness 
and courage on the part of those who had the man- 
agement of the boat. But let me conclude with the 
words of the royal Psalmist, : Our God shall come, and 
shall not keep silence ; a fire shall devour before him, 
and it shall be very tempestuous round about him.' " 




10* 



EXPLOSION OF THE STEAMBOAT MO 
SELLE, 

At Cincinnati, on the Ohio River; whence she had 
just started on her Passage for Louisville and 
St Louis, April 26, 1838; by which Awful Ca- 
tastrophe nearly Two Hundred Persons lost 
their Lives. 

The new and elegant steamboat, Moselle, Captain 
Perry, left the wharf in Cincinnati, for Louisville and 
St. Louis. She was crowded with passengers, from 
stem to stern, principally German emigrants, bound 
for the latter place. With the view of taking a family 
on board at Fulton, about a mile and a half above the 
quay, the steamer proceeded up the river, and made 
fast to a lumber raft for that purpose. Here the fam- 
ily was taken on board ; and, during the whole time 
of his detention, the captain had madly held on to all 
the steam that he could create, with the intention, not 
only of showing off to the best advantage the great 
speed of his boat, as it passed down the river the en- 
tire length of the city, but that he might overtake and 
pass another boat which had left the wharf for Louis- 
ville but a short time previous. 

As the Moselle was a new brag boat, and had recently 
made several exceedingly quick trips to and from 
Cincinnati, it would not do to risk her popularity for 
speed by giving to another boat (even though that 
boat had the advantage of time and distance) the 
most remote chance of being the first to arrive at the 
destined port. This insane policy, this poor ambition 
of proprietors and captains, has almost inevitably 
tended to the same melancholy results. The Moselle 



EXPLOSION OP THE STEAMBOAT MOSELLE. 117 

had but just parted from the lumber raft, to which she 
had been made fast, — her wheels had scarcely made 
their first revolution, — when her boilers burst with an 
awful and astounding noise, equal to the most violent 
clap of thunder. The explosion was destructive and 
heart-rending in the extreme, — heads, limbs, and 
bodies, were seen flying through the air in every di- 
rection, — attended with the most horrible shrieks and 
groans from the wounded and dying. 

The boat, at the time of the accident, was about 
thirty feet from the shore ; it was rendered a perfect 
wreck ; and was entirely shattered as far back as the 
gentlemen's cabin, and her hurricane-deck, the whole 
length, entirely swept away. The boat immediately 
began to sink, and float with a strong current down 
the river, at the same time receding farther from the 
shore, — while the passengers, who yet remained un- 
hurt in the gentlemen's and ladies' cabins, became 
panic-struck, and most of them, with a fatuity which 
seems unaccountable, jumped into the river. Being 
above the ordinary business parts of the city, there 
were no boats at hand, except a few large and un- 
manageable wood-floats, which were carried to the 
relief of the sufferers, as soon as possible, by the few 
persons on the shore. Many where drowned, how- 
ever, before they could be rescued, and many sunk, 
who were never seen afterwards. There was one 
little boy on the shore who was seen wringing his 
hands in agony, imploring those present to save his 
father, mother, and three sisters, — all of whom were 
struggling in the water, to gain the shore, — but whom 
the little fellow had the awful misfortune to see perish, 
one by one, almost within his reach ; an infant child, 
belonging to this family, was picked up alive, floating 
down the river on one of the fragments of the hurri- 
cane-deck. 

Nearly all on board, with the exception of those in 
the ladies' cabin, were killed or wounded. Most of 
the sufferers were among the hands of the boat and 



118 STEAMBOAT DISASTERS. 

the steerage passengers. The captain was thrown by 
the explosion into the street, and was picked np dead 
and dreadfully mangled. The pilot was hurled about 
a hundred feet into the air, whence he fell, and found 
his grave in the river ; and many were the limbs and 
other fragments of human bodies which were found 
scattered about upon the river and far along the 
shore. 

The boat sank, about fifteen minutes after the ex- 
plosion, leaving nothing to be seen but her chimneys, 
and a small portion of her upper works. 

The blame is principally attributed to the captain, 
who had ordered all the steam to be put upon her that 
could be gathered. It was stated, likewise, that her 
engine had been strained ever since she had com- 
menced running ; and that, had she not been one of 
the strongest and best built boats that plied on the 
river, she must inevitably have met with a similar ac- 
cident before. Yet we do not deem it justice to im- 
pute all the blame of such disasters to the captains, 
while they are upheld in their recklessness, and their 
ambition to excel each other, at whatever risk, is ex- 
cited, by the tone of public sentiment, as has been too 
generally evinced. A Cincinnati editor, in alluding 
to the Moselle, thus remarked upon this subject : — 

"For this sad result, we, in part, take blame; we 
plead guilty, in common with other presses, of having 
praised the speed and power of the boat, — a circum- 
stance which doubtless contributed to inflate the am- 
bition of its captain and owners to excel others in ra- 
pidity. We feel confident that, if the public are to 
have any security against steamboat accidents, the 
press must change its tone. Boats must be praised 
for their comfort, convenience, and the care and dis- 
cretion of their commanders, — but not for their speed. 
They will always have as much speed as their ma- 
chinery will bear, without the aid of foreign excite- 
ment. Safety is better than speed." 



EXPLOSION OF THE STEAMBOAT MOSELLE. 119 

From an account furnished by Judge Hall, we have 
some interesting particulars : 

" The Moselle was a new boat, intended to ply reg- 
ularly between Cincinnati and St. Louis. She had 
made but two or three trips, but had already estab- 
lished a high reputation for speed ; and, as is usual in 
such cases, those by whom she was owned and com- 
manded, became ambitious to have her rated as a 
' crack boat,' and spared no pains to exalt her char- 
acter. The newspapers noticed the quick trips of the 
Moselle, and passengers chose to embark in this boat 
in preference to others. Her captain was an enter- 
prising young man, without much experience, bent 
upon gaining for his boat, at all hazards, the distinc- 
tion of being the fastest upon the river, and not fully 
aware, perhaps, of the inevitable danger which at- 
tended this rash experiment. 

"On Wednesday, the 25th of April, between 4 and 
5 o'clock , in the afternoon, this shocking catastrophe 
occurred. The boat was crowded with passengers ; 
and, as is usually the case on our western rivers in 
regard to vessels passing westerly, the largest propor- 
tion were emigrants. They were mostly deck pas- 
sengers, many of whom were poor Germans, ignorant 
of any language but their own, and the larger portion 
consisted of families, comprising persons of all ages. 
Although not a large boat, there were eighty-five pas- 
sengers in the cabin, which was a much larger num- 
ber than could be comfortably accommodated; the 
number of deck passengers is not exactly known, but 
it is estimated at between one hundred and twenty 
and one hundred and fifty, and the officers and crew 
amounted to thirty; making in all about two hundred 
and sixty souls. 

" It was a pleasant afternoon, and the boat, with 
steam raised, delayed at the wharf to increase the 
number — already too great — of her passengers, who 
continued to crowd in, singly or in companies, ail 
anxious to hurry onwards in the first boat, or eager to 



120 STEAMBOAT DISASTERS.- 

take passage in the fast-running Moselle. They were 
of all conditions — the military officer hastening to 
Florida to take command of his regiment — the mer- 
chant bound to St. Louis — the youth seeking a field 
on Avhich to commence the career of life — and the in- 
digent emigrant, with his wife and children, already 
exhausted in purse and spirits, but still pushing on- 
ward to the distant frontier. 

"On leaving the wharf, the boat ran up the river 
about a mile, to take in some families and freight, and 
having touched at the shore for that purpose, for a 
few minutes, was about to lay her course down the 
river. The spot at which she thus landed was at a 
suburb of the city, called Fulton, and a number of 
persons had stopped to witness her departure, several 
of whom remarked, from the peculiar sound of the 
steam, that it had been raised to an unusual height. 
The crowd thus attracted — the high repute of the Mo- 
selle — and certain vague rumors which began to cir- 
culate, that the captain had determined, at every risk, 
to beat another boat which had just departed — all 
these circumstances gave an unusual eclat to the de- 
parture of this ill-fated vessel. 

"The landing completed, the bow of the boat was 
shoved from the shore, when an explosion took place, 
by which the whole of the fore part of the vessel was 
literally blown up. The passengers were unhappily 
in the most exposed, positions — on the deck, and par- 
ticularly on the forward part — sharing the excitement 
of the spectators on shore, and anticipating the plea- 
sure of darting rapidly past the city in the swift Mo- 
selle. The power of the explosion was unprecedented 
in the history of steam ; its effect was like that of a 
mine of gunpowder. All the boilers, four in number, 
were simultaneously burst; the deck was blown into 
the air, and the human beings who crowded it hurried 
into instant destruction. Fragments of the boilers, 
and of human bodies, were thrown both to the Ken- 
tucky and the Ohio shore ; and, as the boat lay near 
the latter, some of these helpless victims must have 



EXPLOSION OF THB STEAMBOAT MOSELLB. 121 

been thrown a quarter of a mile. The body of Captain 
Perry, the master, was found, dreadfully mangled, on 
the nearest shore. A man was hurled with such force, 
that his head, with half his body, penetrated the roof 
of a house distant more than a hundred yards from 
the boat. Of the number who had crowded this beau- 
tiful boat, a few minutes before, nearly all were hurl- 
ed into the air, or plunged into the water. A few, in 
the after part of the vessel, who were uninjured by 
the explosion, jumped overboard. An eye-witness 
says that he saw sixty or seventy in the water at one 
time, of whom not a dozen reached the shore. 

" The news of this awful catastrophe spread rapidly 
through the city ; thousands rushed to the spot, and 
the most benevolent aid was promptly extended to the 
sufferers, — to such, we should rather say, as were 
within the reach of human assistance, — for the ma- 
jority had perished." 

A gentleman, who was an eye-witness, thus remark- 
ed : — " We have just returned from the scene of hor- 
ror occasioned by the explosion; and the account 
heretofore published, instead of being in the slightest 
degree exaggerated, as has been intimated by a few, 
falls far short of the dreadful reality. The fragments 
of human bodies are now lying scattered all along the. 
shore, and we saw the corpses of a number so man- 
gled and torn, that they bear scarcely any resemblance 
to the human form. 

. " Fragments of the boilers, and other portions of 
the boat, were thrown from fifty to two hundred yards 
on the shore, some of them having passed entirely 
over the two rows of buildings on the street, and a 
portion of the boilers tearing away the gable end of a 
stable situated high up the steep hill in the rear of th© 
houses, at least two hundred yards from the boat. 
Other parts of the boat were driven through a large 
house on the street, entering by the windows on one 
side, and passing out at the other. 

11 



122 STEAMBOAT DISASTERS. 

" We conversed with Mr. Broad well, the agent of 
the boat, who said, positively, that there were ninety- 
Jive deck passengers, whose names were entered on 
the boat's register at Pittsburg, and at other towns on 
the river above Cincinnati. Here then were one hun- 
dred and thirty passengers that must have been on 
board, exclusive of the very large number who sub- 
sequently took passage at Cincinnati. The boat was 
unusually crowded, and the agent stated that the 
whole number on board, at the time of the accident, 
could have been but little, if any, short of three hun- 
dred. From the best information we can gather, it 
does not appear that more than thirty or forty of this 
number are known to have been rescued. It is, there- 
fore, probable, that the whole number drowned or de- 
stroyed is upwards of two hundred. 

"It is impossible that any accurate detail of the 
dead and missing can ever be made, or the precise 
number ascertained. A very large portion of them 
were deck passengers, whose humble sphere in life 
will doubtless preclude the possibility of their names 
ever being discovered." 

One, who was on board at the time, stated that an 
engineer, who had landed, cried out to those on board, 
that they had too much steam, and must look out or 
they would blow up ; on which he and his companion 
walked to the stern of the boat, by which means they 
luckily escaped the explosion which took place almost 
immediately. He then went to the ladies' cabin, and 
found everything in confusion ; but, in the midst of 
all, two of the ladies were, with coo 1 fortitude, labor- 
ing to assist the rest. But the wreck of the boat, and 
the escape of those who lost neither life nor friends, 
were as nothing compared with the touching scenes 
*n which were seen the wounded, the dying, and dis- 
severed friends. Here lay a father, partially de- 
ranged, with a scalded child on one side, a dead 
daughter upon another, and a wounded wife at his 



EXPLOSION OF THE STEAMBOAT MOSELLE. 123 

feet. One man had saved a son, and lost a wife and 
five children ; others had lost their whole families. 

One gentleman, who was wounded, was seeking 
his wife and children — while, happily, they, on the 
other side of the crowd, were in search of him, and 
thus unexpectedly, they were re-united. Unexpect- 
edly indeed ! — of all the numerous families, alive to 
every impression of pleasure and hope, and happy in 
the confidence of present security and comfort, who 
but a short time «ince had crowded the deck of this 
ill-fated steamer, — of all these, was it not a miracle 
that one small group should have been preserved, 
who were left not entirely miserable ! It was but a 
solitary ray of light struggling amid overwhelming 
darkness — amid the mental gloom and horror created 
by this frightful disaster. 

A female passenger, who had been saved, seemed 
inconsolable for the loss of her relations. To every 
question put to her, she would exclaim, " O, my 
father ! my mother ! my sisters !" A little boy, about 
four or five years of age, whose head was much 
bruised, appeared regardless of his wounds, but cried 
continually for a lost father ; while another lad, a 
little older, was weeping for his whole family. A 
touching display of maternal affection was evinced by 
a lady, who, on being brought to the shore, clasped 
her hands and exclaimed, " Thank God, I am safe !' ? 
but, instantly recollecting herself, ejaculated in a voice 
of piercing agony, " Where is my child ?" The infant 
which had been saved was brought to her, and she 
fainted at the sight of it. It was her own. 

We extract the following from the report of the 
committee, relative to the tremendous force of the 
steam : — 

"Of the immense force exerted in this explosion, 
there is abundant evidence ; still, in this extraordinary 
occurrence in the history of steam, I deem it impor- 
tant to be particular in noting the facts, and for that 



134 STEAMBOAT DISASTERS. 

purpose I have made some measurements and calcu- 
lations. The boat was one hundred and sixteen feet 
from the water's edge, one hundred and ninety- two 
from the top of the bank, which was forty-three feet 
in perpendicular height above the water. 

" The situations of projected bodies ascertained were 
as follows : — Part of the body of a man, thrown near- 
ly horizontally into a skiff, at the water's edge, one 
hundred and sixteen feet ; the body of the captain, 
thrown nearly to the top of the bank, two hundred 
feet ; the body of a man, thrown through the roof of a 
house, at the distance of one hundred and twelve feet, 
and fifty-nine feet above the water's edge; a portion 
of the boiler, containing about sixty square feet, and 
weighing about four hundred and fifty pounds, thrown 
one hundred and seventy feet, and about two thirds 
of the way up the bank ; a second portion of the 
boiler, of about thirty-five square feet, and weighing 
about two hundred and forty-five pounds, thrown four 
hundred and fifty feet on the hill side, and seventy 
feet in altitude ; a third portion of the boiler, twenty- 
one square feet, one hundred and forty-seven pounds, 
thrown three hundred and thirty feet, into a tan-yard ; 
a fourth portion, of forty-eight square feet, ana* weigh- 
ing three hundred and thirty-six pounds, thrown four 
hundred and eighty feet, into the garret of the back- 
shop of a tan-yard, having broken down the roof and 
driven out the gable-end. The last portion must have 
been thrown to a very great height, as it had entered 
the roof at an angle of at least sixty degrees. 

"A fifth portion, weighing two hundred and thirty- 
six pounds, went obliquely up the river eight hundred 
feet, and, passing over the houses, landed on the side- 
walk, the bricks of which had been broken and driven 
deeply into the ground by it. This portion had en- 
countered some individual in its course, as it came 
stained with blood. Such was the situation of the 
houses that it must have fallen at an angle as high as 
forty-five degrees. It has been stated, that bodies of 



EXPLOSION OF THE STEAMBOAT MOSELLE. 125 

persons were projected quite across the river into 
Kentucky. I can find no evidence of the truth of 
this : on the contrary, Mr. Kerr informs me, that he 
made inquiries of the people on the opposite shore, 
and ' could not learn that any thing was seen to fall 
farther than halfway across the river/ which is at 
that place about sixteen hundred feet wide." 

A public meeting was held at the council-chamber 
in Cincinnati, at which the mayor presided, when the 
facts of this melancholy occurrence were discussed, 
and committees appointed to seek out the sufferers, 
and to render all possible assistance. A communica- 
tion was read from the clerk of the boat, stating that 
there were about two hundred and eighty persons on 
board, eighty-six of whom were cabin passengers. 

The funeral obsequies of nineteen of the victims of 
this fatal explosion took place at Cincinnati on the 
following Sabbath. A spectator of the scene thus 
wrote : — 

" As the calamity was peculiar and transcendent in 
its horrors, so were the funeral obsequies solemn and 
imposing beyond any thing we have ever seen. At 3 
o'clock, upon the first toll of the bell, every place of 
business was closed. It is believed there was no ex- 
ception. Apparently the whole city was a moving 
mass to the foot of Broadway, where the procession 
was forming. 

" The deceased, enclosed in proper coffins, were 
placed in the hearses of the city, which not .being 
sufficient to convey the whole, the necessary number 
of carriages were added. When the procession was 
prepared to move, the contiguous approaches of the 
intersecting streets were literally choked with one 
crowded jam of human beings. Among all these no 
word was spoken, no look of levity was indulged. 
The universal feeling was too deep for any such sen- 
sation to be felt. 

" The progress of the procession, so vast in number, 



126 STEAMBOAT DISASTERS. 

so solemn in manner, made every where, on its line of 
movement, the deepest impression. Sad and sorrowful 
faces, hundreds of them bedewed with tears, crowded 
to windows, doors, and all places of observation. 

"The interment took place in the public burial- 
ground, and, at this last act of respect and kindness 
that can be performed by the living to the dead, some 
most touching scenes occurred. Those to be depos- 
ited in their last earthly rest were all strangers. Some 
of them were members of the same family, and, in 
one or two instances, surviving relations were present. 
One mother, a German, cast herself upon the coffin of 
her two only children, in agonies seldom witnessed. 
But we must omit a detail of such scenes. 

"The impressive funeral service of the Episcopal 
ehurch was read by the Rev. Mr. Brooke, and a brief 
but most pertinent and affecting address made by the 
Rev. Mr. Sohon. Our narration here ends. We pre- 
sume not to break its effect with any reflections." 



EXPLOSION OF THE HELEN M'GREGOR, 

While stopping to land Passengers at Memphis. 
Tennessee, February 24, 1830 ; by which Dis- 
aster upwards of Forty Persons lost their 
Lives, 

The following interesting narrative was written by 
a gentleman, who was passenger on board the Helen 
M'Gregor : — 

" On the morning of the 24th of February, the 
Helen M'Gregor stopped at Memphis, to deliver freight 
and land a number of passengers who resided in that 
section of Tennessee. The time occupied in so doing 
could not have exceeded three quarters of an hour. 
While the boat was thus detained, I went ashore to 
see a gentleman with whom I had some business. I 
found him on the beach, and, after a short conversa- 
tion, returned to the boat. I recollect looking at my 
watch as I passed the gangway. It was half past 8 
o'clock. A great number of persons were standing on 
what is called the boiler-deck, — being that part of the 
upper deck situated immediately over the boilers. It 
was crowded to excess, and presented one dense mass 
of hum? 31 bodies. 

" la a few minutes we sat down to breakfast in the 
c>abin. The table, although extending the whole 
length of the cabin, was completely filled, there being 
upwards of sixty cabin passengers, among whom were 
several ladies and children. The number of passen- 
gers on board, deck and cabin united, was between 
four and five hundred. I had almost finished my 
breakfast, when the pilot rung his bell for the engineer 



128 STEAMBOAT DISASTERS. 

to put his machinery in motion. The boat having 
just shoved off, I was in the act of raising my cup to 
my lip, the tingling of the pilot bell yet on my ear, 
when I heard an explosion, resembling the discharge 
of a small piece of artillery. The report was perhaps 
louder than usual in such cases, for an exclamation 
was half uttered by me that the gun was well loaded, 
when the rushing sound of steam, and the rattling of 
glass in some of the cabin windows checked my speech, 
and too well told what had occurred. I almost in- 
voluntarily bent my head and body down to the floor, 
— a vague idea seemed to shoot across my mind that 
more than one boiler might burst, and that, by as- 
suming this posture, the destroying matter would pass 
over without touching me. 

" The general cry of { a boiler has burst,' resounded 
from one end of the table to the other ; and, as if by a 
simultaneous movement, all started on their feet. 
Then commenced a general race to the ladies' cabin, 
which lay more toward the stern of the boat. All re- 
gard to order, or deference to sex, seemed to be lost in 
the struggle for which should be first and farthest re- 
moved from the dreaded boilers. The danger had 
already passed away ! I remained standing by the 
chair on which I had been previously sitting. Only 
one person or two staid in the cabin with me. As yet 
not more than half a minute had elapsed since the ex- 
plosion ; but, in that brief space, how had the scene 
changed! In that 'drop of time' what confusion, 
distress, and dismay ! An instant before, and all were 
in the quiet repose of security; another, and they 
were overwhelmed with alarm and consternation. It 
is but justice to say, that, in this scene of terror, the 
ladies exhibited a degree of firmness worthy of all 
praise. No screaming, no fainting ; their fears, when 
uttered, were for their husbands and children, not for 
themselves. 

"I advanced from my position to one of the cabin 
doors, for the purpose of inquiring who were injured, 



THE HELEN M'GREGOR. 129 

when, just as I reached it, a man entered at the op- 
posite one, both his hands covering his face, and ex- 
claiming, ' O God ! O God ! I am lost ! I am ruined !' 
He immediately began to tear off his clothes. When 
stripped, he presented a most shocking and afflicting 
spectacle : his face was entirely black ; his body with- 
out a particle of skin. He had been flayed alive. He 
gave me his name and place of abode — then sunk in 
a state of exhaustion and agony on the floor. I as- 
sisted in placing him on a mattress taken from one of 
the berths, and covered him with blankets. He com- 
plained of heat and cold as at once oppressing him. 
He bore his torments with a manly fortitude, yet a 
convulsive shriek would occasionally burst from him. 
His wife, his children, were his constant theme : it 
was hard to die without seeing them ; it was hard to 
go without bidding them one farewell ! Oil and cotton 
were applied to his wounds, but he soon became in- 
sensible to earthly misery. 

" Before I had done attending to him, the whole floor 
of the cabin was covered with unfortunate sufferers. 
Some bore up under the horrors of their situation with 
a degree of resolution amounting to heroism. Others 
were wholly overcome by the sense of pain, the sud- 
denness of the fatal disaster, and the near approach 
of death. Some implored us, as an act of humanity, 
to complete the work of destruction, and free them 
from present suffering. And there was one who en- 
treated the presence of a clergyman to pray for him, 
declaring he was not fit to die. On every side 
were to be heard groans and mingled exclamations of 
grief and despair. 

"To add to the confusion, persons were every mo- 
ment running about to learn the fate of their friends 
and relatives, — fathers, sons, brothers, — for, in this 
scene of unmixed calamity, it was impossible to say 
who were saved, or who had perished. The coun- 
tenances of many were so much disfigured as to be 
past recognition. My attention, after some time, was 

9 



130 STEAMBOAT DISASTERS. 

particularly drawn toward a poor fellow who lay un- 
noticed on the floor, without uttering a single word 
of complaint. He was at a little distance, removed 
from the rest. He was not much scalded, but one of 
his thighs was broken, and a principal artery had been 
severed, from which the blood was gushing rapidly. 
He betrayed no displeasure at the apparent neglect 
with which he was treated, — he was perfectly calm. 
I spoke to him ; he said he was very weak ; he felt 
himself going, — it would soon be over. A gentleman 
ran for one of the physicians; he came, and declared 
that, if expedition were used, he might be preserved 
by amputating the limb ; but that, to effect this, it 
would be necessary to remove him from the boat. 

" Unfortunately, the boat was not sufficiently near to 
run a plank ashore. We were obliged to wait until it 
could be close-hauled. We then placed him on a mat- 
tress, and bore him to the guards ; there we were de- 
tained some time, from the cause I have mentioned. 
Never did any thing appear to me so slow as the 
movements of those engaged in hauling the boat. I 
knew, and he knew, that delay was death, — that life 
was fast ebbing. I could not take my gaze from his 
face, — there, all was coolness and resignation; no 
word or gesture indicative of impatience escaped him. 
He perceived, by my load and perhaps angry tone 
of voice, how much I was excited by what I thought 
the barbarous slowness of those around: he begged 
me not to take so much trouble, — that they were doing 
their best. At length we got him on shore, — it was 
too late : he was too much exhausted, and died im- 
mediately after the amputation. 

" As soon as I was relieved from attending on those 
in the cabin, I went to examine that part of the boat 
where the boilers had burst. It was a complete wreck 
—a picture of destruction. It bore ample testimony 
of the tremendous force of that power which the in- 
genuity of man has brought to his aid. The steam 
had given every thing a whitish hue, — the boilers 



THE HELEN M'GREGOR. 131 

were displaced, — the deck had fallen down, — the ma- 
chinery was broken and disordered. Bricks, dirt, and 
rubbish were scattered about. Close by the bowsprit 
was a large rent, through which, I was told, the boil- 
er, after exploding, had passed out, carrying one or 
two men in its mouth. Several dead bodies were ly- 
ing around ; their fate had been an enviable one, com- 
pared with that of others, — they could scarcely have 
been conscious of a pang ere they had ceased to be. 

"The number of lives lost will, in all probability, 
never be distinctly known. Many were seen flung 
into the river, most of whom sunk to rise no more. 
Could the survivors have been kept together until the 
list of passengers was called, the precise loss would 
have been ascertained ; that, however, though it had 
been attempted, would, under the circumstances, have 
been impossible. 

"Judging from the crowd which I saw on the 
boiler-deck immediately before the explosion, and the 
statement which I received as to the number of those 
who succeeded in swimming out after they were cast 
into the river, I am inclined to believe that between 
forty and fifty must have perished. 

" The cabin passengers escaped, owing to the pecu- 
liar construction of the boat. Just behind the boilers 
were several large iron posts, supporting, I think, the 
boiler-deck : across each post was a large circular 
plate of iron, of between one and two inches in thick- 
ness. One of these posts was placed exactly opposite 
the head of the boiler which burst, being the second 
one on the starboard side. Against this plate the 
head struck, and penetrated to the depth of an inch, 
then broke and flew off at an angle, entering a cotton 
bale to the depth of a foot. The boiler head was in 
point blank range with the breakfast- table in the cab- 
in, and, had it not been obstructed by the iron post, 
must have made a clear sweep of those who were 
seated at the table. 

" To render any satisfactory account of the cause 



132 STEAMBOAT DISASTERS. 

which produced the explosion can hardly be expected 
from one who possesses no scientific or practical knowl- 
edge on the subject, and who, previously thereto, was 
paying no attention to the management of the boat. 
iThe captain appeared to be very active and diligent 
in attending to his duty. He was on the boiler-deck 
when the explosion occurred ; was materially injured 
by that event, and must have been ignorant of the 
mismanagement, if any there was. 

"From the engineer alone could the true explana- 
tion be afforded j and if, indeed, it was really attrib- 
utable to negligence, it can scarcely be supposed he 
will lay the blame on himself. If I might venture a 
suggestion in relation thereto, I would assign the fol- 
lowing causes: — That the water in the starboard 
boiler had become low in consequence of that side of 
the boat resting upon the ground during our stay at 
Memphis ; that the fires were kept up some time be- 
fore we shoved off; that the head which burst had 
been cracked for a considerable length of time ; and 
that the boiler was extremely heated, and the water, 
thrown in when the boat was again in motion, was at 
once converted into steam, and the flues not being 
sufficiently large to carry it off as quickly as it was 
generated, nor the boiler head of a strength capable 
of resisting its action, the explosion was a natural 
result. 

" I assume this proposition to be correct — that, in 
every case where a boiler bursts, it is fair to infer that 
it proceeded from neglect, until the contrary shall be 
proved." 



DESTRUCTION OF THE BEN SHEROD, 

By Fire and Explosion, on the Mississippi River, 
while on her Passage from New Orleans for 
Louisville, May 8, 1837; by which Terrible 
Catastrophe nearly Two Hundred Persons lost 
their Lives. 

The steamer Ben Sherod, Captain Castleman, left 
New Orleans on Sunday morning, May 7,. bound to 
Louisville ; and on the night of the 9th, when about 
thirty miles below Natchez, she was discovered to be 
on fire, and in a few minutes after, the whole boat 
was enveloped in flames. 

Being in the stream, and her wheel-ropes burnt off, 
it was impossible to run her ashore; and no alterna- 
tive was left to the persons on board, but to jump into 
the water, and attempt to save themselves by swim- 
ming, or floating on such articles as they could find, 
or to perish in the flames. In the confusion and 
alarm, many, who could not swim, sprang overboard, 
without taking the precaution to provide themselves 
with a plank or box, and were drowned ; but many 
more, it is feared, were burnt to death. 

So rapid was the spread of the fire, and so destitute 
were those on board of all means of escape, that no- 
thing could be saved, not even the register of the boat; 
thus rendering it impossible to state with certainty 
how many were lost, or what were their names. 

The fire is believed to have originated from the fuel 
being piled up near the boiler. The story of the dis- 
aster was related to us by a young man, who was a 
cabin passenger : it is awfully interesting, and his own 
escape almost miraculous. When he awoke, he put 



136 STEAMBOAT DISASTERS. 

on his clothes, and leaped into the yawl, which was 
hanging at the stern, and was followed by about forty 
other men, one of whom cut the rope connecting the 
stern of the steamer to the bow of the yawl, when the 
latter canted over, and hung in a perpendicular posi- 
tion, the bow towards the water. All on board were 
precipitated into it, and are believed to have been 
drowned, with the exception of the narrator, — and he 
saved himself by clinging to the thwarts. 

In a few minutes, about twenty of the crew made 
their way to the stern of the steamer, and placed 
themselves in the boat, suspended as she was. One 
of them imprudently took out his knife, and cut the 
rope which attached the steamer to the stern of the 
yawl, and she plunged, as might have been expected, 
full twenty feet under water. All that had been 
hanging to her were missing, except four, and the in- 
dividual who relates the story. He says, that when he 
rose to the surface, he found himself under the yawl, 
which was lying bottom up. Being strong, active, 
and expert at swimming, he worked his way from un- 
derneath and mounted on her bottom, where he was 
soon joined by the four other men who had saved 
themselves ; and in this situation they floated twelve 
miles down the river, before they were picked up by 
the Columbus. 

There was some powder on board, — in what quan- 
tities was not known ; but the knowledge that it was 
there, seemed to have paralyzed the efforts of the 
crew, and its explosion added to the deep horrors of 
the scene. There were nine ladies on board, only two 
of whom were rescued. 

The survivors of this terrible disaster have unani- 
mously concurred in their expressions of gratitude to 
the commanders of the steamers Columbus and States- 
man, for their activity in saving them from a watery 
grave, and for their kindness to them while on board 
their boats. On the conduct of Captaiu Littleton, of 
the steamboat Alton the public censure of the sur- 



DESTRUCTION OF THE BEN SHEROD. 137 

viving sufferers was published in the newspapers of 
the day. The reckless manner in which he drove his 
vessel through the crowd of exhausted sufferers, there- 
by drowning many, even while calling for help, and 
turning a deaf ear to the cries and pleadings of all, 
cannot soon be forgotten by an indignant community, 
or the record of its truth be obliterated from public 
print. 

The following is the statement, alluded to above, 
from a part of the surviving passengers : — 

"We, the undersigned, part of the passengers saved 
from the wreck of the steamer Ben Sherod, on the 
night of the 9th inst., feel it a duty we owe to the offi- 
cers of the steamboats Columbus and Statesman, to 
say that they deserve the praise of every friend of hu- 
manity for their untiring exertions in rescuing the 
suffering passengers whom they found afloat in the 
current. Many of the passengers owe their lives to the 
kindness of the officers of these boats. 

" We feel it also due to the public to state, — and our 
hearts sicken within us when we assert it, — that the 
steamboat Alton, Capt. Littleton, passed through the 
midst of the sinking crowd, all hands crying for help, 
and, although within a few feet of some, covering 
them with her waves, she did not even stop her 
headway until she arrived at Fort Adams, ten miles 
below, where she could have rendered no assistance. 
" Signed, Hugh Simpson, Carlinsville, Tenn. 

Thomas Duvall, Shelby Co., hid. 

John Blanc, New Orleans. 

John P. Wilkinson, Richmond, Va. 

Ephraim Stanfield, Richmond, Va. 

Daniel Marshall, Moscow, hid. 

Rosson P. Andrus, Natchez. 

Asa S. Smith, do. 

Charles W. Andrus, do. 

M. M. Orme, do. 

"Natchez, May 18, 1837." 
12* 



138 STEAMBOAT DISASTERS. 

There were two hundred and thirty-five persons on 
board, of whom not more than sixty escaped ; leaving 
upwards of one hundred and seventy five drowned 
and burnt, including the captain's father and two 
children, — his wife was picked up by a flat boat, 
badly injured. The following are the names of some 
of the ladies who were lost: — Mrs. M'Dowell, of Bel- 
font, Ala. ; Mrs. Gamble, and three children, of New 
Orleans ; Miss Frances Few, of Belfont. Ala. 

This awful occurrence should teach the community 
the immense importance of the character of a steam- 
boat. After the wanton disregard of life evinced by 
the captain of this boat some weeks ago at Vicksburg, 
by which ten or twelve persons were drowned, not a 
single individual, who had any regard for his life, 
should have ventured on that same boat while under 
such a reckless commander. A man who would re- 
fuse to bring his boat to, for the purpose of landing a 
dozen individuals, would not scruple to run a race 
with two hundred passengers on board, and fire his 
boat by the red heat of his boilers. The Ben Sherod 
had been on fire twice during the race on that same 
night, previous to the final conflagration. 

Captain Castleman subsequently published the fol- 
lowing vindication of his conduct : — 

" Merely to show how things will be exaggerated, 
not that it can alter in any way the circumstances, I 
would mention that the number of persons on board 
the Ben Sherod, at the time that she was burnt, did 
not exceed from one hundred and fifty to one hundred 
and sixty. I think one hundred and fifty would 
probably come the nearest to it, including the crew, 
children, and servants, and all ; and from all I could 
learn before I left New Orleans, and at Natchez on 
my way up, I do not think there were more than sixty 
or sixty-five lost, instead of from one hundred to two 
hundred, as is stated in so many different reports. I, 



DESTRUCTION OF THE BEN SHEROD. 139 

myself, clung to the hope of getting the boat to the 
shore, and saving all, until it was too late to save my 
own family, and thereby lost my father and two chil- 
dren, and got my wife burnt so badly that she was not 
expected to live. I was burnt myself slightly ; one 
child was burnt to death and in my wife's arms when 
I got hold of her, and the other drowned. 

"As to the report of my officers and crew being in 
a state of intoxication, the barrel of whiskey with the 
head knocked out, or set out for the men to have ac- 
cess to, — it is all in the imagination. Drunkenness is 
the only misdemeanor for which I allowed a man to 
be discharged without first consulting me ; but the 
clerks, the mates, the engineers, all had full authority 
to drive any man of the crew off the boat, either in 
or out of the port, if he was the least drunk, as was 
the case the first trip, when we first made up our crew. 
Some of that crew got drunk, and were discharged, 
and replaced by sober men, until we had a good crew ; 
and I feel positive that we had not had a drunken 
man amongst our cr^ew for three months before the 
fatal accident. 

"I had not left the deck in Jhe fore part of the 
night. The firemen were singing and dancing about, 
as they always do when on duty, but there were none 
of them the least intoxicated, so far as I could see ; 
and the watch that were on duty at the time (the first 
watch having retired) had not been out of their beds 
long enough to get drunk, if they had wanted to. We 
always gave our men, black or white, as much as they 
wanted, kept a barrel of whiskey tapped on the boiler 
deck for them, have always done so, and generally let 
one of the watch that ivas on duty, go to it and draw 
for his watch, whenever they loanted it. He is called 
the captain of the watch. I have always done the 
same for the last ten years, and my acquaintances, I 
think, will vouch for my discipline about drunken- 
ness, as well as other things, being severe and rigid 
enough. Indeed, I am generally blamed for being too 



140 STEAMBOAT DISASTERS. 

particular about such things, and too rigid with my 
hands." 

We give some further particulars, gathered from 
various sources : — 

One gentleman, Mr. Cook, floated down the river 
some miles before he was picked up. He hailed some 
wretched and dispicable character, who had put off in 
a yawl from the shore, and begged his assistance. 
The infamous scoundrel, who was intent only on 
picking up boxes, &c, asked with the utmost sang 
froid, ~" How much will you give me?" To the en- 
treaties of others for help, he replied, " O, you are 
very well off there ! Keep cool, and you '11 come out 
comfortable !" Whether the captain of the Alton de- 
serves the censure that has been heaped upon him, we 
know not, nor will we pretend to say positively until 
we have seen his statement ; but it does appear that 
if the captain of the Columbus had acted in a similar 
manner to that of the Alton, there would not have 
been half a dozen souls left to., tell the tale of the 
calamity. 

Mr. Davis, the pilot, who was at the wheel during 
the fire, was conversing with a friend, just before he 
left the city, about the burning of the St. Martin ville, 
and the burning of her tiller-rope, three or four years 
since. " If ever I 'm in a boat that takes fire," said 
Davis, "if I don't run her ashore, it will be because 
I shall be burnt up in her!" Poor fellow! his state- 
ment was verified ; he was burnt up in the Ben 
Sherod. 

Out of nine ladies that were on board, only two 
have been saved, the captain's wife and Mrs. Smith, 
of Mobile. Their husbands threw hen-coops into the 
river, and jumped off the wheel-house ; the ladies fol- 
lowed their example, and were saved. 

One scene was distressing in the extreme : a young 
and beautiful lady, whose name we could not learn, 
on hearing the cry of fire, rushed out of the ladies' 



DESTRUCTION OP THE BEN SHEROD. 141 

cabin, in her loose dress, in search of her husband, at 
the same time holding her infant to her bosom ; in en- 
deavoring to go forward, her dress caught fire, and 
was torn from her back to save her life ; after wit- 
nessing her husband fall into the flames in the for- 
ward part of the boat, unable to reach him, she leaped 
with her child into the water, seized a plank, and was 
carried by the current within eighty yards of the 
Columbus ; but just as she had seized a rope thrown 
from the steamboat, both mother and child sunk to 
rise no more. 

It is impossible to enumerate the various heart- 
rending sights occasioned by this calamitous affair. 
The captain, for instance, saved his wife, but saw his 
two children perish. Mr. Smith saved his wife and 
one child, and saw the nurse rush madly through the 
flames with his daughter, and both perish. Mr. Gam- 
ble's wife, we understand, was burnt to death; he 
escaped, although very badly burnt. One young man, 
who had reached the hurricane-deck in safety, heard 
the cries of his sister ; he rushed back to the cabin, 
clasped her in his arms, and both were burnt to death. 
One of the clerks, one of the pilots, and the first mate 
were burnt. All the chamber-maids and women em- 
ployed in the boat perished. Out of thirty-five ne- 
groes, that were known to have been on board, only 
two escaped. The Ben Sherod had the largest crew 
of any boat on the river, and out of about fifty who 
were saved, over thirty belonged to the boat. Of the 
sixty or seventy cabin passengers, there were but ten 
or twelve left alive. One of the officers of the boat 
stated that, in addition to the cabin passengers, there 
were at least sixty or more deck passengers, of whom 
scarce six were saved. 

Altogether, this is one of the most serious disasters 
that ever happened in the annals of Mississippi steam- 
boat navigation ; there being at least one hundred and 
fifty families deprived by it of some dear and beloved 
member, and over one hundred beings hurried by it, 



142 STEAMBOAT DISASTERS. 

out of time into eternity, with scarce -a 
warning. 

We understand that three different explosions took 
place on board the boat whilst burning — first, barrels 
of whiskey and brandy ; then the boilers blew up 
with a fearful explosion, and, lastly, thirty-nine bar- 
rels of gunpowder exploded, which strewed the sur- 
face of the river with fragments. 

At the time the Ben Sherod took fire, she was 
engaged in a race with the steamer Prairie ; and the 
fire took from the great heat of the boilers, caused by 
raising her steam to its extreme power. A barrel of 
whiskey was placed on deck for the use of the hands 
during the race, who drank to excess, and became 
intoxicated. 

At about 12 o'clock at night, the furnace became so 
heated that it communicated fire to the wood, of which 
there was on board about sixty cords. When the 
crew discovered the fire, they all left their posts, and 
ran for the yawl without giving any alarm to the pas- 
sengers, who were all asleep in their berths. The 
captain, for a time, attempted to allay the extreme 
confusion, by stating that the fire was extinguished ; 
twice he forbade the lowering of the yawl, which was 
attempted by the deck hands and passengers. 

The shrieks of nearly three hundred persons on 
board now rose wild and dreadful. The cry was, " to 
the shore ! to the shore /" The boat made for the star- 
board shore, but did not gain it, the wheel-rope hav- 
ing given way, and the pilot driven by the flames 
from his station. The steam was not let off, and the 
boat kept on. The scene of horror now beggared all 
description. 

The yawl, which had been filled with the crew, had 
sunk, and the passengers had no other alternative than 
to jump overboard, without taking even time to dress. 
There were nine ladies on board, who all went over- 
board without uttering a single scream, some drown- 



DESTRUCTION OF THE BEN SHEROD. 143 

ing instantly, and others clinging to planks, — two of 
the number were finally saved. Many of the passen- 
gers are supposed to have been burnt. One man, by 
the name of Ray, from Louisville, hung to a rope at 
the bow of the boat, until taken up by the yawl of the 
steamboat Columbus, which arrived about half an 
hour after the commencement of the disaster, on her 
downward passage. 

The steamboat Alton arrived soon after the Colum- 
bus ; but, from the carelessness or indiscretion of those 
on board, was the means of drowning many persons 
who were floating in the water. She drove into the 
midst of the exhausted sufferers, who were too weak 
to make longer exertion, and, by the commotion oc- 
casioned by her wheels, drowned a large number. A 
gentleman, by the name of Hamilton, from Alabama, 
was floating on a barrel, and sustaining also a lady, 
when the Alton drove up and washed them both un- 
der ; the lady was drowned, but Mr. Hamilton came 
up, and floated down the river fifteen miles, when he 
was taken up by the steamer Statesman. 

Mr. M' Dowel! attributes the drowning of his wife 
to the indiscretion of the managers of the Alton, as she 
was floating safely on a plank at the time. He sus- 
tained himself some time against the current, so that 
he only floated two miles down the river, when he 
swam ashore ten miles above Fort Adams. Besides 
the loss of his wife, Mr. M' Dowel 1 lost his son, a 
young lady who was under his protection, and a 
negro servant. 

The following interesting narrative was written by 
a passenger : — 

"On Sunday morning, the 7th of May, 1837, the 
steamboat Ben Sherod, under the command of Captain 
Castleman, was* preparing to leave the levee at New 
Orleans. She was thronged with passengers. Many 
a beautiful and interesting woman that morning was 
busy in arranging the little things incident to travel- 



144 STEAMBOAT DISASTERS. 

ling, and they all looked forward with high and cer- 
tain hopes to the end of their journey. Little innocent 
children played about the cabin, and would run to the 
guards, now and then, to wonder, in infantine lan- 
guage, at the next boat, or the water, or something 
else that drew their attention. ' O, look here, Henry, 
I don't like that boat Lexington.' 'I wish I was 
going by her,' said Henry, musingly. The men, too, 
were urgent in their arrangement of the trunks, and 
the getting on board sundry articles, which a ten days' 
passage rendered necessary. In fact, all seemed hope, 
and joy, and certainty. 

" The cabin of the Ben Sherod was on the upper 
deck, but narrow in proportion to her build, for she 
was, what is technically called, a Tennessee cotton 
boat. To those who have never seen a cotton boat 
loaded, it is a wondrous sight. The bales are piled 
up from the lower guards, wherever there is a cranny, 
until they reach above the second deck, — room being 
merely left for passengers to walk outside the cabin. 
You have regular alleys left amid the cotton, in order 
to pass about on the first deck. Such is a cotton boat, 
carrying from one thousand five hundred to two thou- 
sand bales. 

" The Ben Sherod's finish and the accommodation 
of the cabin were by no means such as would begin 
to compare with the regular passenger boats. It being 
late in the season, and but few large steamers being in 
port, in consequence of the severity of the times, the 
Ben Sherod got an undue number of passengers ; 
otherwise she would have been avoided, for her ac- 
commodations were not enticing. She had a heavy 
freight on board, and several horses and carriages on 
the forecastle. The build of the Ben Sherod was 
heavy — her timbers being of the largest size. 

"The morning was clear and sultry — so much so 
that umbrellas were necessary to ward off the heat of 
the sun. It was a curious sight to see the hundreds 
of citizens hurrying on board to leave letters, and to 
see them coming away. When a steamboat is going 



DESTRUCTION OF THE BEN SHEROD. 145 

off on the southern or western waters, the excitement 
is fully equal to that attendant upon the departure of 
a Liverpool packet. 

"About 10 o'clock, A. M., the ill-fated steamer 
pushed off upon the turbid current of the Mississippi, 
as a swan upon the waters. In a few minutes, she 
was under way, tossing high in air bright and sunny 
clouds of steam at every revolution of her engine. 
Talk not of your northern steamboats ! A Mississippi 
steamer of seven hundred tons burden, with adequate 
machinery, is one of the sublimities of poetry. For 
thousands of miles that great body forces its way 
through a desolate country, against an almost resist- 
less current, and all the evidence you have of the im- 
mense power exerted, is brought to your sense by the 
everlasting and majestic burst of exertion from her 
escapement pipe, and the careless stroke of her paddle 
wheels. In the dead of night, when, amid the 
swamps on either side, your noble vessel winds her 
upward way — when not a soul is seen on board but 
the officer on deck — when nought is heard but the 
clang of the fire doors amid the hoarse coughing of the 
engine, imagination yields to the vastness of the ideas 
thus excited in your mind ; and, if you have a soul 
within you, you cannot help feeling strongly alive to 
the mightiness of art in contrast with the mightiness of 
nature. Such a scene — and hundreds such have been 
realized with an intensity that cannot be described — 
always makes me a better man than before. I never 
could tire of the steamboat navigation of the Mississippi. 

"On Tuesday evening, the 9th of May, 1837, the 
steamer Prairie, on her way to St. Louis, bore hard 
upon the Ben Sherod. It was necessary for the latter 
to stop at Fort Adams, during which the Prairie 
passed her. Great vexation was manifested by some 
of the passengers, that the Prairie should get to Natchez 
first. The subject formed the theme of conversation 
for two or three hours, the captain assuring them that 
he would beat her any hoio. 

13 10 



146 STEAMBOAT DISASTERS. 

" The Prairie was a very fast boat, and, under equal 
circumstances, "would have beaten the Sherod. As 
soon as the business was transacted at Fort Adams, 
for which she stopped, orders were given to the men 
to keep up the fires to the extent. It was now a little 
past 11 o'clock, P. M. The captain retired to his 
berth with his clothes on, and left the deck in charge 
of an officer. During the evening, a barrel of whiskey 
had been turned out, and permission given to the 
hands to do as they pleased. As may be supposed, 
they drew npon the barrel quite liberally. It is the 
custom of all the boats to furnish the firemen with 
liquor, though a difference exists as to the mode. But 
it is due to the many worthy captains now on the 
Mississippi, to state that the practice of furnishing 
spirits is gradually dying away, and where they are 
given, it is only done in moderation. 

" As the Sherod passed on above Fort Adams, to- 
wards the mouth of the Homochitta, the wood piled 
up in front of the furnaces several times caught fire, 
and was once or twice imperfectly extinguished by 
the drunken hands. It must be understood by those 
who have never seen a western steamboat, that the 
boilers are entirely above the first deck, and that, 
when the fires are well kept up for any length of time, 
the heat is almost insupportable. Were it not for the 
draft occasioned by the speed of the boat, it would be 
very difficult to attend the fire. 

" The boat went on her way at a tremendous rate, 
quivering and trembling her full length at every rev- 
olution of the wheels. The steam was created so 
fast, that it continued to escape through the safety- 
valve, and, by its sharp singing, told a tale that every 
prudent captain would have understood. 

"As the vessel rounded the bar that makes off the 
Homochitta, — being compelled to stand out into the 
middle of the river in consequence, — the fire was dis- 
covered. It was about 1 o'clock in the morning. A 
passenger had got up previously, and was standing on 



DESTRUCTION OF THE BEN SHEROD. 147 

the boiler-deck, when, to his astonishment, the fire 
broke out from the pile of wood. A little presence of 
mind, and a set of men unintoxicated, could have 
saved the boat. The passenger seized a bucket, and 
was about to plunge it overboard for water, when he 
found it locked. An instant more, and the fire in- 
creased in volume. The captain was now awakened. 
He saw the fire had seized the deck. He ran aft, and 
announced the ill tidings. 

" No sooner were the words out of his mouth, than 
the shrieks of mothers, sisters and babes, resounded, 
in the wildest confusion, throughout the hitherto silent 
cabin. Men were aroused from their dreaming cots to 
experience the hot air of approaching fire. The pilot, 
being elevated on the hurricane-deck, at the instant 
of perceiving the flames, put the head of the boat to- 
wards the shore. She had scarcely got under way in 
that direction, before the tiller ropes were burnt off. 
Two miles at least from the land, the boat sheered 
and, borne up by the current, made several revo- 
lutions, until she struck off across the river. A bar 
brought her up for the moment. 

" The flames had now extended fore and aft. At the 
first alarm, several deck passengers had got into the 
small boat, that hung suspended by the davits. A 
cabin passenger, endowed with some degree of courage 
and presence of mind, expostulated with them, and 
did all he could to save the boat for the ladies. But 
all was useless. One took out his knife and cut away 
the forward tackle. The next instant, and they were 
all launched into the angry waters. They were 
seen no more. 

" The boat being lowered from the other end, filled, 
and was useless. ?s T ow came the trying moment. 
Hundreds leaped from the burning wreck into the 
water. Mothers were seen standing on the guards, 
with dishevelled hair, praying for help, — their dear 
.little innocents clung to their sides, and seemed, with 
their tiny hands, to beat away the burning flames. 



148 STEAMBOAT DISASTERS. 

Sisters called out to their brothers in unearthly voices, 
1 Save me, O my brother ! ' Wives crying to their 
husbands to save their children, in total forgetfulness 
of themselves. Every moment or two the desperate 
plunge of some poor victim would fall on the appalled 
ear. The dashing to and fro of the horses on the 
forecastle, groaning audibly in their fierce agony, — the 
continued puffing of the engine, for still it continued 
to go, — the screaming mother who had leaped over- 
board, in the desperation of the moment, with her only 
child, — the heat and the crackling of the lurid fire, as 
its greedy flames darted with horrible rapidity from 
one portion to another of the devoted vessel, — shall I 
ever forget that scene, that hour of horror and alarm? 
Never, were I to live till memory forget all else that 
ever came to the senses. The short half hour, that 
separated and plunged into eternity two hundred hu- 
man beings, has been so indelibly burnt into the 
memory, that nothing can have power to efface it. 

"I was swimming to the shore with all my might, 
endeavoring to sustain a mother and child. My 
strength failed me, — the babe was nothing — a mere 
cork. ' Go, go,' said the brave mother, ' save my 

child, save my ,' and she sunk to rise no more. 

Nerved by the resolution of that woman, I reached the 
shore in safety. The babe I saved. Ere I reached 
the beach, the Sherod had swung off the bar, and was 
slowly floating down, the engine having ceased run- 
ning. In every direction, heads dotted the surface of 
the river. A new and still more awful appearance, 
the burning wreck now wore : mothers were seen 
clinging with the energy of expiring hope to the blaz- 
ing timbers, and dropping off one by one. The 
screams had ceased. A sullen silence rested over the 
devoted vessel. The flames seemed tired of their 
work of destruction. 

" While I sat, dripping and overcome, upon the beach, 
a steamboat, the Columbus, hove in sight, and bore 
for the wreck. It seemed like one last ray of hope 
gleaming across the dead gloom of that night. Several 



DESTRUCTION OP THE BEN SHEROD. 149 

were saved. And still another, the Statesman, came 
in sight. More, more were saved. A moment, to me, 
only had elapsed, when high in the heavens the cin- 
ders flew, and the country was lighted all around. 
Still another boat came booming on. I was happy 
that help had come. After an exchange of words 
with the Columbus, it continued on its way, under full 
steam. O, how my heart sunk within me ! The 
waves created by that boat sent many a poor mortal 
to his long home. A being by the name of Littleton 
was its reckless and merciless commander. Long 
may he be remembered ! 

" My hands were burnt, and I now began to experi- 
ence severe pain. The scene before me, — the loss of 
my two sisters, and a brother, whom I had missed in 
the confusion, — all had steeled my heart. 

" Again — another explosion ! and the waters closed 
slowly and suddenly over the scene of disaster and 
death. Darkness resumed her sway, and silence was 
only interrupted by the distant efforts of the Colum- 
bus and Statesman in their laudable exertions to save 
human life. 

" Captain Castleman lost, I believe, a father and 
child. Some argue this was punishment enough ; no, 
it was not. He had the lives of hundreds under his 
charge. He was careless of his trust ; he was guilty 
of a crime that nothing will ever wipe out. The 
blood of two hundred victims is crying from out the 
waters for retribution and vengeance. Neither so- 
ciety nor law will give it. His punishment is yet to 
come. May I never meet him ! 

It was more than three weeks after this terrible 
occurrence before I could shed a tear. All the foun- 
tains of sympathy had been dried up, and my heart 
was as the stone. As I lay on my bed, the twenty- 
fourth day after, tears, salt tears, came to my relief, 
and I felt the loss of my sisters and brother more 
deeply than ever. Peace be to their spirits ! they 
found a watery grave." 

13* 




Distant view of the burning of the Washington. 



BURNING OF THE WASHINGTON, 

On Lake Erie, while on her Passage from Cleave« 
land to Detroit, on the Morning of June 16, 1838 ; 
by which many Lives were lost, 

The following statement, relative to this disaster, 
was given by the Rev. R. J. Judd, of Garrettesville, 
Ohio :— 

"The steamboat Washington, Captain Brown, left 
Cleaveland on her passage to Detroit, June 14th, with a 
full compliment of passengers. She had proceeded on 
her way safely, until Saturday, at 2 o'clock, A. M., and 
had arrived in the vicinity of Silver Creek, about 
twenty-seven miles from Buffalo, when she was dis- 



BURNING OF THE WASHINGTON. 151 

covered to be on fire. The passengers were aroused 
from their slumbers, and such a scene of confusion and 
distress ensued, as those only can imagine who have 
been placed in similar circumstances. Despair did 
not, however, completely possess them until it became 
evident that the progress of the flames could not be 
arrested. 

<• From that moment, the scene beggars all descrip- 
tion. Suffice it to say, that numbers precipitated 
themselves from the burning mass into the water; 
some of them with a shriek of despair, and others 
silently sank beneath the waves. The small boat had 
by this time put off, loaded with about twenty-five 
souls, for the shore, where they arrived safely, after 
picking up one or two by the way. The writer of 
this was one of the number. Other small boats came 
to their assistance, which, together . with the Wash- 
ington's boat, saved, perhaps, a majority of the per- 
sons on board. . 

" There is reason to believe that as many as forty 
perished. It is impossible to compute the precise num- 
ber. Many remained on the boat until it was wrap- 
ped in one sheet of flame. Of these it is supposed 
that a great portion perished in the conflagration ; 
while others, half burned, precipitated themselves into 
the watery element, — thus suffering the double agony 
of death, by fire and water. 

" Most of the crew were saved, — the captain being 
among the number, who during the awful calamity, 
acted with the utmost decision and intrepidity. In- 
need, no blame, as far as the writer has been informed, 
has been attached to any officer or hand on the boat. 
The utmost exertion was used to run her on the shore, 
until it became necessary to stop the engine in order 
to let down the small boat, which having been done, 
the fire had progressed so far as to render it impossi- 
ble to again start the machinery. ^ 

" I will give a few particulars of the losses of the 
passengers : — Mr. Shudds is the only survivor of his 



152 STEAMBOAT DISASTERS. 

family, consisting of seven. A lady passenger lost 
three children, a sister, and a mother. Mr. Michael 
Parker lost his wife and parents, sister and her child. 
But I will not further enumerate the cases of individ- 
ual bereavement. Truly it is not in man to know 
1 what a day may bring forth. 5 " 

The news of the disaster was brought to Buffalo by 
the passengers in the steamboat North America. 
The following is gathered from their statements : — 

The Washington passed the North America while 
the latter lay at Erie, in the early part of the night, 
and was not again seen by those on board the North 
America, until within about three miles of the city, 
when a bright glare of light was discovered by the 
helmsman in the direction of Silver Creek, and the 
North America was instantly put about for the scene 
of apprehended disaster. 

On nearing the spot, about 6 o'clock, the burning 
hull of the large and noble boat was found drifting 
over the waters, three or four miles from shore, with 
not a living human being on board. The lake was 
literally covered with hats, bonnets, trunks, baggage, 
and blackened fragments of the wreck. 

The intense anxiety of the witnesses of this fearful 
scene, for the fate of the passengers on board the 
unfortunate Washington, was partially relieved by 
the discovery of several small boats near the shore, 
in which the survivors of the disaster had been res- 
cued from destruction. The alarm had been given 
at Silver Creek, as soon as the flames were perceived 
from the shore, and all the boats which could be 
found were sent to the rescue of the sufferers. There 
were only three skiffs, besides the yawl of the Wash- 
ington, which could be thus used. 

The North America took on board about forty of 
those saved, many of whom, including all the ladies, 
remained on shore. There were six dead bodies 
picked up, on the spot, — those of four children and 



BURNING OF THE WASHINGTON. 153 

two women. One man died of his injuries soon after 
reaching the shore, and one child was dead in its 
mother's arms when she was taken from the water. 

The fire caught near the boilers, and had made 
such progress, when discovered, a*s to defy all attempts 
to extinguish it. The helm was instantly put up, and 
the vessel headed for the shore ; hut, in a few minutes 
the wheel ropes burnt off, and the boat became an 
unmanageable wreck. Some of the passengers made 
their escape in the boats of the Washington ; others 
jumped overboard, and supported themselves on spars 
and rafts, until they were picked up by the steamer 
North America, or by the boats which put off from 
Silver Creek. The number lost cannot be correctly 
ascertained. 

Many affecting scenes occurred in this terrible ca- 
tastrophe. An English family, consisting of a man, 
his wife, and two children, came on board the boat at 
Toledo. While the fire was raging, the man worked 
till he could stay on board no longer, when he and 
his wife threw their children overboard, and jumped 
in after them. The father and two children were 
drowned, — the mother was saved. Several passen- 
gers went into convulsions with terror, at the outset, 
and perished in the flames. A woman, with a child 
grasped under each arm, all dead, was picked up by 
the North America. A newly-married couple, sup- 
posed to have embarked at Erie, jumped overboard in 
each other's arms, and sank together. 

Among those lost there were W. Shed, of New 
York; Captain Clemens, of Dudley, Mass.; Conrad 
Shurtz, and William Shurtz, with his wife and three 
children, of New York ; Mr. Barker's family of six, 
(but one saved.) There was also a Scotchman on 
board, who lost his mother, sister and, three chil- 
dren. 

Of those saved we have been enabled to gather the 
following names : — 



154 STEAMBOAT DISASTERS. 

D. Beardesley, Catherines. Major Meach, Carleton, N. Y. 

I. H. Bennett, Indiana. N. B. Moore, Pembroke N. Y, 

H. Dorgee, Providence. N. Neely, Illinois. 

J. M. Durgell, Florida. W. Nelson, Somerston, N. Y. 

T. Edwards, Peru, Ohio. S. Nichols, Penfield, N. Y. 

D. Gibson, Mundee, Mich. Israel M. Patty, N. Y. 

Henry Hart, Michigan. W. H. Rice, Illinois. 

G. B. Hadley, Dewitt, N. Y. T. Simpson, Worcester. 

George C. Hill, Utica. John F. Shultz, N. Y. 

S.O. Holbrook, Sparta, N. Y. C. Strait Marshall, Mich. 

I. Holmes, Leicester, N. Y. J. W. Thurber, Michigan. 

M.D. Hosford, Clayton, N. Y. Simeon Tyler, N. Y. 

Rev. R. J. Judd, Garrettes- John Wiler, Ohio, 
ville, Ohio. 

One hundred life-preservers would probably have 
saved every soul on board, even had they been in the 
middle of the lake, instead of being close in shore. 
In the long run, these would be cheaper than to 
furnish extra boats, and infinitely better. Let a life- 
preserver hang in every berth, and passengers could 
close their eyes in security. If they pleased, they 
might sleep with them buckled around them. Let 
something be done immediately. It is not the pas- 
senger's duty to provide them. Perhaps he makes a 
lake voyage but once in his life. When he pays his 
fare, he has a right to expect a safe conveyance. If a 
man gets his arm broken by being overturned in a 
stage-coach, he comes upon the proprietors for dama- 
ges. So it should be in steamboats. Captains and 
owners should be held responsible for every accident. 
No boat should be allowed to take passengers that is 
not secured, in every possible way, from fire and ex- 
plosion, and the safety of passengers secured by pro- 
viding means of escape. 




Appearance of the Wreck of the Steamboat New England. 



EXPLOSION OF THE NEW ENGLAND, 

On the Connecticut River, October 7, 1833, on her 
Passage from New York to Hartford ; by which 
Fatal Occurrence many Lives were sacrificed, 

The steamboat New England left New York, for 
Hartford, on the afternoon of Tuesday, the 8th of 
October. She started in company with the steamboat 
Boston, but gradually gained on the latter through 
the sound. A degree of anxiety was felt by some of 
the passengers, on account of the competition between 
the two boats. But we have no evidence that this 
anxiety was warranted by any unusual press of steam 
on board the New England. The boat reached the 
river about 1 o'clock, when, of course, all compe- 
tition was at an end. 



156 STEAMBOAT DISASTERS. 

At Saybrook, some difficulty occurred with the en- 
gine, which rendered it necessary to throw out an 
anchor to prevent the boat from drifting ashore. After 
a detention of twenty or thirty minutes at Saybrook, 
the boat proceeded on her way up the river, about 
eight miles, and arrived opposite Essex at 3 o'clock. 
Her engine was stopped, the small boat was let down 
to land a passenger, and had just reached the shore, 
when both the boilers exploded, almost simultaneously, 
with a noise like heavy cannon. The shock was 
dreadful ; and the scene which followed is represented, 
by those who were present, as awful and heart-rend- 
ing beyond description. The morning was excessively 
dark ; the rain poured in torrents ; the lights on deck 
and in the cabin were suddenly extinguished, and all 
was desolation and horror on board. Those only who 
witnessed the havoc which was made, and heard the 
shrieks and groans of the wounded and dying, can 
form an adequate conception of the scene. 

There were upward of seventy passengers on board ; 
the boat hands numbered about twenty, — making, in 
all, nearly one hundred persons. Most of the passen- 
gers were fortunately in their berths. Those who 
were in the gentlemen's cabin escaped without serious 
injury. The most destructive effects of the explosion 
were felt on the deck, and in the ladies' cabin. The 
ladies who were in their berths, and remained there, 
we believe were not much injured ; but those who 
were on cots opposite the cabin doors, and others, 
who, on the first alarm, sprang from their berths, were 
more or less scalded. All who were on deck abaft the 
boilers, were either killed or wounded. Had the 
accident occurred in the day-time, when the passen- 
gers are generally scattered about the deck and prom- 
enade, the destruction of lives would, in all probabil- 
ity, have been much greater. 

' Captain Waterman was on the wheel-house, at the 
time of the explosion, attending to the landing of 
passengers from the small boat. He noticed a move- 



EXPLOSION OF THE NEW ENGLAND. 157 

ment over the boilers, and immediately jumped, or 
was thrown, upon the forward-deck. He was some- 
what bruised, but not seriously injured. 

From the inhabitants of Essex the sufferers expe- 
rienced the most kind and hospitable attentions. Their 
houses were thrown open for their reception, and 
every thing which could contribute to their relief and 
comfort promptly afforded. 

As soon as the melancholy intelligence reached 
Hartford, on Wednesday morning, the proprietors des- 
patched the steamboat Massachusetts for the surviving 
passengers, and several physicians repaired to the 
scene of suffering. 

The following are the names of those who were 
lost : — 

J. Bronson, (boat hand.) Jared Leane, (boat hand.) 

J. T. Burgess, Waterville. Allen Pratt, (boat hand.) 

E. Bushnell, (boat hand.) Mr. Shepard, Norwich, Ct. 

John Estabrook, Concord. Mrs. Thompson, and child. 

D. Harvey, (boat hand.) L. Warner, Plymouth, Ct. 

J. M. Heron, Reading, Ct. Dr. L. B. Whiting, Reading, Ct. 
Mrs. Hunter, Scotland. 

Of the passengers scalded, and otherwise injured, 
there were Mrs. Abigail Stocking, of Middletown; 
Roderick G. P. Goodrich, Wethersfield ; Miss Warner, 
Plymouth, Ct. ; Mrs. Hastings, Gill, Mass. ; and two 
children of Mrs. Thompson. Of those belonging to 
the boat, were Captain Waterman ; William Savage ; 
Giles Farnum; Samuel Pasha; and Jane Pruden, 
chamber-maid. 

The cause of this dreadful explosion may be traced 
to the negligence or presumption of the engineer, in 
permitting the steam to accumulate beyond what the 
strength of the boilers could sustain. From the best 
information we could obtain, the steam was not blown 
off while the boat lay at Saybrook, nor during her 
stoppage at Essex. Mr. Potter, the engineer, who, 

14 



158 STEAMBOAT DISASTERS. 

for many years, had been in the employment of the 
proprietors, was not on board during this trip; .his 
place was supplied by Mr. Marshall, from the West 
Point Foundry, who had the reputation of skill in his 
profession. He declared there were only eight or ten 
inches of steam on, at the time of the explosion ; but, 
besides the improbability on the face of this statement, 
there was the strongest testimony of a very different 
character. The boilers were rent asunder and thrown 
into the river — the guards on which they rested were 
broken off — the promenade-deck, from the captain's 
office to the ladies' cabin, a distance of about thirty 
feet, was lifted from its place, and fell, in part, upon 
the main deck, and the ladies' cabin, and all the up- 
per works of the boat were completely shattered. 

The board of examiners, appointed to investigate 
into, the causes of this catastrophe, reported that those 
portions of the guards and railing on which the boilers 
had been placed, together with the boiler-houses, 
railings, and the other contiguous wood-work, had 
been entirely destroyed by the effects of the explosion. 
The front of the ladies' cabin upon the quarter-deck 
had also been forced inward, and partially destroyed ; 
and that part of the upper, or promenade-deck, which 
extended from said cabin to the engine-room, near the 
centre of the. boat, had been entirely swept away. 
The engine remained without injury; but the steam- 
pipe which led from one of the boilers was broken off 
at its junction with the main steam-pipe in the engine- 
room, near the point where it unites with the steam- 
pipe from the starboard boiler. The safety-valve 
attached to the main steam-pipe at the junction of the 
two branch pipes near the engine, remained unim- 
paired. A mercurial steam-guage is attached to the 
main steam-pipe at this point, which serves to indi- 
cate to the engineer the pressure of steam in the 
boilers. The mercury was not thrown from this 
guage by the explosion, and it was found in good order 
after the accident. Two other mercurial guages, of 



EXPLOSION OF THE NEW ENGLAND. 169 

the same description, had been attached, one to each 
of the boilers on* that part called the steam-chimney, 
which, having no water in contact with its inner sur- 
face, becomes more heated than any other portion of 
the boiler. These guages had been torn from their 
places, and in one of them a portion of the mercury, 
with which it had been charged, was found remaining 
after the accident. 

The mutilated portions of the boilers gave abundant 
evidence of the great force of the explosive action. 
They were found to be dismembered and torn in a 
manner which it is difficult to describe. The boilers 
were not, as occurs in some cases of steamboat ex- 
plosions, rent merely in the main flue, thus giving 
vent to the steam; or, as in other cases, with a head 
torn off and lacerated, and still retaining their external 
form, and remaining in their beds ; they were torn 
asunder, and folded in massy doublings, like a gar- 
ment ; and they were so crushed, and flattened, and 
distorted, that it was difficult to discover how the 
mutilated- parts were ever connected into symmetry, 
so as to combine just "proportion and strength. 

The appearance of the boilers, however, was such 
as to indicate that they had been constructed in a 
substantial manner. The copper, in all the ruptured 
parts, had every appearance of being tough and free 
from flaws; nor did it exhibit the flaking and dis- 
coloration which great heat is known to produce upon 
the metal when not covered by water. 

In short, the committee, after having duly examined 
the wreck, and listened to all the testimony, were of 
opinion that the explosion was caused by the pressure 
of steam produced in the ordinary way, but accumu- 
lated to a degree of tension which the boilers were 
unable to sustain. It was estimated that the steam, 
at the time of the explosion, must have accumulated 
to nearly, or quite, thirty inches, giving an aggregate 
expansive force on the internal surface of each boiler, 
of not less than three million pounds. 



160 STEAMBOAT DISASTERS. 

The following particulars are extracted from two 
letters, written by a gentleman, one of the surviving 
passengers : — 

" Middletown, Wednesday, 2 o'clock, 
" Our journey in the steamboat New England was 
very pleasant, last evening, until we entered the Con- 
necticut river. At, or about 1 o'clock, this morning, 
when we were all asleep, myself excepted, I per- 
ceived the engine, or something else, was out of order. 
I was in the forward cabin, and concluded I was in 
the safest part of the boat. Things seemed to go on 
badly, by the frequent stops, until 3 o'clock, when 
both boilers burst simultaneously, or as nearly to- 
gether as a two-barrel gun could be discharged by one 
person ; the result was, two persons were killed out- 
right, about twenty-five wounded or scalded, — out of 
which number five or six may not survive. The de- 
struction of the upper works was almost entire. 
Among the number injured, six or eight women are 
included, being in the upper-deck cabin. In the main 
cabin, three or four were badly injured ; but, in the 
front cabin, no one was injured, neither did any steam 
enter it." 

" Hartford, Thursday Morning, Oct. 10. 
"On the arrival of the intelligence here of the ex- 
plosion of the New England, a steamboat was sent 
down to the scene of distress ; she returned, a few 
moments since, with the news of four deaths, and that 
eight or ten more must die with their wounds, and 
perhaps more. The upper works of this unfortunate 
boat present the most extraordinary wreck I ever be- 
held, and if the event had occurred in the day-time, 
when the passengers are generally upon the decks, not 
a person could have escaped injury. I believe I 
wrote you that I early discovered that there was some 
imperfection in the working of the machinery of this 
boat, which, however, I considered of no importance, 
as regarded safety ; but when she found it necessary 



EXPLOSION OF THE NEW ENGLAND. 161 

to lay to to fix her steering ropes, which required 
some time, I at once became astonished that she did 
not throw off steam, as is usually the case when stops 
are made; and from this to the time of the explosion, 
there were several stops made, and at the different 
stoppages of the engine I could perceive but a faint 
sound of the discharge of steam. 

"At 3 o'clock, the explosion was most terrific, and 
for many minutes every thing around seemed like 
chaos. I found myself unhurt, and, somehow, en- 
tirely free from excitement or extraordinary alarm. I 
got on my clothes, and, while dressing, one or two 
persons rushed to the front cabin, where I was. I 
asked them some questions, but they were so horror- 
stricken that the power of utterance had ceased. The 
decks were covered with broken timbers — the baggage 
thrown into the river — and the cries of misery, and 
the moaning of the dying, was for a moment with me 
a paralysis. I visited the different scenes of distress 
among the passengers, — found nothing could be done 
for them but to get the boat to the shore as speedily 
as possible, and in about thirty minutes we lay along- 
side the wharf. The people of Essex were up with the 
first report of the explosion, and every thing was done 
by them to alleviate the distresses of the unfortunate 
sufferers." 

The appearance of the wreck was thus described by 
an eye-witness : — 

11 Never, of its kind, was so melancholy a ruin 
presented to the eye as the wreck of the New England. 
You approach her as you approach the cemetery of 
the dead. She seems the slaughter-house of the 
traveller. As you enter her, these melancholy asso- 
ciations cease. You stand astonished at the force and 
effect of the murderous explosion. From the stem to 
the wheel-room all is well ; from the wheel-room aft, 
athwart the deck, and downward to the water, you 
see the direction as well as power of the blast. The 

14* 11 



162 STEAMBOAT DISASTERS. 

explosion downward seems to have been far more 
powerful than in any other direction, and yet, with a 
resisting body as near the boiler, equal force might 
have been demonstrated in other parts. 

" The guards on deck, extending beyond the hull 
upon which the boilers were placed, were blown 
through, the exact size of the boilers ; beams, of a foot 
square, supported by braces and knees, being blown 
off as square and close to the hull as if sawed by a 
carpenter. Beyond the exact size of the boilers, the 
deck was entire. The souffle, or blast of the larboard 
boilers, was felt as far as the extreme stern, on the 
outside of the ladies' cabin, leaving the centre. The 
steps at the quarters were blown out of shape, and 
crushed sideways by the blast. This shows that no 
position outside the ladies' cabin could have been safe. 
The front of the ladies' cabin was pressed inward 
about eighteen inches at the door, and opened at the 
corners about twelve inches. 

"The chamber-maid, sleeping in the upper berth, 
next the larboard boiler, was thrown out, and fell 
upon her hands in the water. Two children, sleeping 
in the berth beneath her, were unhurt — the scalding 
element probably raging above them. The steam 
filled the ladies' cabin and extinguished the lights. A 
child, in the most remote berth from the boiler, and 
next the stern, was so scalded as to die. A lady, in 
the berth next it, also died. Her clothes were so hot 
as to scald the hands of those that removed them. 
This must have been at least forty feet from the boiler. 
Letters, exposed to the steam, were charred, or re- 
duced to coal in places. Such facts indicate the un- 
usually high temperature of the steam. 

" Perkins, the inventor of the steam-gun, claims that 
he can so heat steam, that it shall fall in atmospheric 
air, like flakes of snow. In counting the peril of 
steam explosions, let it be taken into account, that 
the steam is frequently many times hotter than the 
ordinary steam of boiling water. 



EXPLOSION OP THE NEW ENGLAND. 163 

" Had one boiler been in the centre, or had either 
projected over the deck a single foot, certain death to 
all below deck must have followed. The starboard 
boiler, doubtless, sunk through the opening in the 
wing, made by its own blast ; while the larboard one 
was scattered into fragments, its top, bottom, sides 
and back being torn away and lost, leaving the flues 
and front only. The flues were thrown forward from 
a horizontal to a perpendicular position, and lodged 
upon the wood, some six feet forward." 

The New England was a new boat, and had com- 
menced running but a short time previous. Her en- 
gine and boilers were made at West Point, and, as was 
supposed, of the best materials, and in the best man- 
ner. No expense had been spared to make the boat 
in every respect complete, and to finish it in the most 
beautiful style. Though the loss to the proprietors 
was very serious, yet it is matter of small importance 
compared with the destruction of lives, the anguish 
of sufferers, and the affliction of relatives and friends, 
consequent upon this terrible disaster. 




LOSS OF THE STEAMER NEW ENGLAND* 

Which was run into by a Schooner, and sunk, on 
her Passage from Boston to Bath, May 31, 1839. 

The steamboat New England, Captain Kimball, 
while on her passage from Boston to Bath, Me., was 
run into by the schooner Curlew, Captain Crockett, 
from East Thomaston for Boston. The collision took 
place at 1 o'clock on the morning of May 31, and 
about fifteen miles south of Boon Island. The 
schooner was standing to the leeward of the boat, and 
when a short distance from her, luffed up with the 
intention of passing her bow. Before this could be 
effected, she struck the larboard bow of the steamer, 
and, after getting clear, passed on. 

The pilot of the New England, finding that her bow 
was stove in, and that she was rapidly filling with 
water, hailed the schooner, which then lowered her 
sails, and the steamer ran alongside. The passen- 
gers, about seventy in number, among them fifteen 
ladies, were by this time on deck, and when the boat 
reached the Curlew, a general rush was made to board 
her. In their eagerness, several of them jumped too 
soon, and fell overboard, but they were all picked up, 
unharmed, with the exception of Mr. Standish, of 
Providence, who was crushed to death between the 
two vessels. 

The steamer sunk as low as the promenade-deck, in 
which situation she remained ; and the Curlew pro- 
ceeded on her voyage with the passengers, — many of 

* The New England here mentioned, is the same boat which ex- 
ploded at Essex, Conn., in October, 1833, — the account of which disas- 
ter will be found by referring to page 156 of this volume. 



LOSS OP THE NEW ENGLAND. 165 

whom had nothing on bnt their night clothes, and 
arrived in Boston about 2 o'clock in the afternoon of 
the same day, having been towed fifteen miles by the 
steamer Portsmouth. 

The following is a list of the passengers : — 

Levi Appleby, Bowdoin. E. N. King, and child, Boston. 

C. G. Batchelder, Hallowell. V. R. Lovejoy, Gardiner. 
Mary Batchelder, Jay. Abram Lord, Gardiner. 

Mrs. Bates, Norridgewock. George W. Morton, Augusta. 
J. Blake, Lynn. Nath. Millay, Whitefield. 

Charlotte Bascom, Cambridge. Wm. Meacher, Whitefield. 
A. Butters, Wilmington, Ms. J. A. M'Lellan, Bath. 
G. A. Bendall, Boston. S. Martin, Warren, R. I. 

A. C. Berry, Gardiner. John Martin, Grafton. 

Gridley Bryant, Boston. William Morse, Bath. 

Miss M. A. Carleton. J. M'Clintock, Boothbay. 

Rev. Mr. Cole, lady, and child. Thomas Mahony, Augusta. 
Franklin Copeland, Roxbury. Sewel Preble, Bowdoinham. 
David Claney, Bath. Phineas Pratt, Saco. 

Sarah Clark, Bath. Zilpha Pierce, Boston. 

S. H. Dorr, Boston. J. Smith, Colerain, Mass. 

Louisa Demerick, Dresden. S. G. Stinson, Bath. 
Anna Dalton, Cambridgeport. Franklin Stevens, Pittston. 
F. Evans, Gardiner. G. W. Stevens, Pittston. 

J. H. Eveleth, and lady. Edward Stevens, Winthrop. 
Mrs. D. Finn, Gardiner. Leonard Sturtevant. 

J. S. Given, Boston. C.'F. Stewart, Nashua. 

Eunice Goodwin, Gardiner. E. R. Sawin, Fairhaven. 
Russell Ellis, Waterville. Laura Stevens, Boston. 
Rev. J. B. Husted, Bangor. F. R. Theobald, Richmond. 
David W. Horton, Boston. Mrs. Townsend, Roibury. 
J. P. Hunter, Gardiner. W. K. Weston, Augusta. 

H. Hill, Bangor. J. E. Ware, Farmington. 

M.Hopkins, and son,Gardiner. T. Warland, Cambridge. 
William Hutchins, Boston. Miss D. D. Watson, Fayette. 



EXPLOSION OF THE STEAMER J!TNA, 

In New York Harbor, while on her way to the City, 
from Washington, N, J, May 15, 1824; with the 
Loss of several Lives, 

On Saturday evening. May 15, about 7 o'clock, as 
the steamboat ^Etna, Captain Robinson, was on her 
way to New York from Washington, N. J., with pas- 
sengers from Philadelphia, and while in sight of the 
city, her boilers gave way, and blew up with a tre- 
mendous and deadly explosion. The interior of the 
boat was rendered a complete wreck, — the immensely 
heavy iron-work having been broken into fragments, 
and the heavy timbers, and the lighter work of the 
two after-cabins, literally shattered to pieces. 

The whole number of persons on board was thirty- 
four. Of these there were killed by the explosion, 
Mrs. Job Furman ; Mrs. Abm. Merserole ; her daugh^ 
ter, Caroline Furman, and a sister of Mrs. Furman, 
all of one family; Miss Mary Bates, a daughter of 
Captain Andrew Bates, and Mr. Mordecai C. Peters, 
of Philadelphia. Miss Ann Dougherty, of Auburn, 
with Mr». Taylor, were both taken to the hospital, 
where they died, in the most frightful agony, before 
morning. The steward, Victor Grasse, a Frenchman, 
jumped overboard from the forward-cabin window, 
and was drowned. Another person, name unknown, 
also jumped out of the forward-cabin, and was 
drowned. Mr. Charles C. Hollingshead, of Princeton, 
New Jersey, who was in the forward-cabin, jumped 
overboard through a window, and was saved by 



EXPLOSION OP THE MTNA. 167 

seizing a bench that was thrown over, — and after- 
wards was picked up by the ^Etna's boat. 

The following persons were wounded, — some of 
whom subsequently died of their injuries : — Mr. Mor- 
rison; Thomas Braden, Wilmington; Michael Eck- 
felt, Philadelphia; and Joseph Stevens, of Ireland. 
Of the crew, there were John Winter, John Gibbens, 
Alexander Cromwell, Ann Thomas, and Margaret 
Cole. 

A young lad, about thirteen years of age, who was, 
at the time of the explosion, sleeping on the covering 
of the boiler, was thrown into the air, and fell into the 
vacuum caused by the removal of the machinery, and 
received no injury. Mr. John Pearce, and Mr. Myers, 
both of Philadelphia, escaped without injury. Jona- 
than Case, of Schenectady ; Benedict Arnold, of Am- 
sterdam, N. York ; Mr. Heacock and lady, were also 
among those saved. 

The following letter was written by an eye-witness 
of the dreadful scene : — 

New York, May 14. 

"It is with pain I inform you of an awful occur- 
rence that took place last evening, on board the steam- 
boat iEtna. When about seven miles from, and in 
sight of, this city, her boilers burst with a noise like 
thunder. I had walked to the bows just before the 
explosion took place, and thanks be to the Almighty 
that I am one of the few who escaped unhurt. O ! 
the awfulness of the scene ! My situation I can 
scarcely describe. It pleased the Almighty to give me 
a command of myself at this horrid moment, when 
every one on board thought it his last, and some in 
despair jumped overboard and were drowned. 

The smoke disappearing, the horror of the sight 
increased, when we beheld the bodies of these who 
had been struck by pieces of the boiler, weltering in 
their blood on the deck. I now attempted to make 
my way aft ; and succeeded, after getting through the 



168 STEAMBOAT DISASTERS. 

smoke and broken parts of the wreck, in assisting 
Captain Robinson and others to clear the com- 
panion-way to get into the ladies' cabin. The cap- 
tain went down and handed np five ladies, whom I 
took from him, and, placing them upon deck, they ex- 
pired. One little girl entreated me to throw water 
upon her, her agony was so great. They were all of 
one family, and had been on board but a few minutes, 
being on their return from the funeral of a sister at 
Elizabethtown Point. 

" In this situation we were discovered by two boats, 
at the quarantine ground, which put off to our assist- 
ance, and brought us up to the city ; and a steam- 
boat, passing by, towed the wreck, with the dead and 
wounded on board, to the wharf." 

The steamboat United States, Captain Beecher, was 
on her way from New Brunswick at the time of the 
disaster, and, after rendering all the assistance in her 
power, towed the Mtna. up to the city. 

A gentleman, who accompanied the coroner to view 
the dead and dying, thus remarked : — " Such a heart- 
rending spectacle we never before witnessed. The 
scalds of the dead were deep, and, notwithstanding 
their clothes, they extended over the whole body. But 
the survivers presented pictures of unutterable suffer- 
ing. If prepared for that great event, how well might 
they have envied those whom death had already 
relieved from bodily anguish !" 



EXPLOSION OF THE GEORGE COLLIER, 

On the Mississippi River, during her Passage from 
New Orleans for Natchez, May 6, 1839; by 
which upwards of Twenty-Five Lives were lost, 

The steamboat George Collier left New Orleans 
for Natchez, Saturday afternoon, May 5. About 1 
o'clock on Sunday morning, the piston-rod gave way, 
which broke the forward cylinder-head, and carried 
away a part of the boiler-stands. There were 
forty-five persons scalded — twenty-six of whom died 
the same day. We give their names as far as we 
have been able to ascertain : — 

William Blake, Boston. Frederic Groe, Germany. 

Charles Brooks. Crissen Herring, Germany. 

J. O. Brien, and wife. John Ideda, France. 

S. J. Brocqua, Poland, Ky. Joseph Lawrence, Indiana. 

Joseph G. Bossuet, Boston. D. J. Rose, New Orleans. 

Mr. Belch. Peter Smith, New Orleans. 

Frederick Cross, Boston. T. J. Spaulding, Mobile. 

Charlotte Fletcher, and mo- Mrs. E. Welsh, and two chil- 
ther. dren. 

The accident, of course, is justly attributable to gross 
carelessness. The boat was built four years previous 
to the disaster, — and the piston-rod had been in use 
ever since that time. During its continuance in ser- 
vice thus long, it should have been tested, when no 
loss of life would depend upon the result of the exper- 
iment. This running of machinery as long as it will 
last, and discovering its weakness and inefficiency but 
at the expense of the lives of scores of human beings, 
is not only recklessly heartless, but in the highest 
degree criminal, and should be frowned down by an 
indignant community, and rendered severely punish- 
able by the laws of the land. 

15 



LOSS OF THE GENERAL JACKSON, 

A New York Steam Ferry-Boat, which was run 
down in the Harbor by the Steamboat Boston, 
August 23, 1836 ; by which Occurrence several 
Persons lost their Lives. 

On Tuesday morning, about half past 4 o'clock, as 
the ferry-boat General Jackson,, was crossing from 
the Long Island side, the steamboat Boston, which 
was passing down the river, came in contact with her, 
■ — both striking near the bows, — which so shattered 
the ferry-boat, that in less than three minutes she 
went to the bottom. Eight or ten persons leaped on 
board the Boston, immediately after the concussion, 
and the rest were swept off as the boat went down. 
The boats of the Boston were immediately lowered, 
and sent to the rescue of the drowning persons. There 
were twenty-five passengers on board the ferry-boat, 
six of whom were drowned. The names of those who 
perished, were Silas Wright; Edward Alexander; 
James Connelly; Mr. Flanagan, and two colored boys. 

We understand that the immediate cause of the 
accident was the efforts of the Boston to avoid a small 
boat, with several persons on board, which was 
directly in her way, and that, in so doing, she was 
brought by the force of the tide in near proximity to 
the ferry-boat. In this situation her engine was im- 
mediately stopped, and an order to back water given, 
but not in season to prevent a slight collision, which, 
however, would have been perfectly harmless, had not 
the ferry-boat been altogether unfit for her station. 



EXPLOSION OF THE CHARITON, 

On the Mississippi River, near St. Louis, July 27, 

1837. 

The steamboat Chariton had just put out, and had 
proceeded a short distance up the stream, when one of 
her boilers burst ; by which disaster nine or ten per- 
sons were more or less badly scalded. Three were 
blown over the starboard side of the boat into the 
Mississippi. "As we hurried down to the river," 
says an eye-witness, "upon hearing the noise of the 
explosion, we saw one poor fellow, a black man, just 
brought ashore in a boat, which had picked him up ; 
he was badly scalded and bleeding. Two white men 
had been taken ashore a little higher up the landing, 
— one of them shockingly scalded. On the boiler- 
deck lay two men, — one of them the engineer, — both 
badly wounded. Four or five more were injured, but 
not so severely as those we have mentioned." 

Three of the men who were scalded died shortly 
after, — two of them the cooks of the boat, and the 
other the second engineer of the steamboat Missouri 
Fulton, who was on board the Chariton at the time. 

There was much surmise, and a great deal said 
with regard to whom blame was justly attributable in 
this case ; but suspicion rested upon the misconduct 
of the engineer, who, it was stated, neglected to fur- 
nish the boilers with a sufficient supply of water. 



EXPLOSION OF THE STEAMER ORONOKO, 

On Mississippi River, near Princeton, Miss,, April 
21, 1838 ; by which many Lives were lost, 

The steamboat Oronoko, Capt. John Crawford, left 
New Orleans on Monday, April 16. Early in the 
morning of the following Saturday, immediately after 
leaving Princeton, one of her boilers exploded, blowing 
overboard fifteen or twenty persons, and severely scald- 
ing between forty and fifty. Many of the latter died 
shortly after the disaster. Among the scalded, it was 
calculated that there were at least between twenty 
and thirty white men, chiefly deck passengers ; five 
or six women, and about the same number of chil- 
dren. Of those who were blown overboard, four or 
five were saved. The second engineer was badly 
scalded, as was also the cook, who jumped overboard 
soon after the explosion, and was drowned. 

The number of cabin passengers, as near as could 
be ascertained, was from seventy-five to eighty; on 
deck, from sixty to seventy, including blacks and 
children. Most of those in the cabin were in their 
berths at the time of the accident, otherwise the loss 
of lives would have been immense. 

A letter from a gentleman who was passenger in 
the Oronoko, says : — " Fortunately, all the cabin pas- 
sengers were in their state-rooms, and, with the ex- 
ception of two or three, escaped without serious injury. 
Had we been at meals, every soul must have perished, 
as the box which covers the fly-wheel was torn in a 
thousand pieces. 



EXPLOSION OF THE STEAMER ORONOKO. 173 

" The report awoke all of us. The first impression 
among us was that a boat had run into us ; but, in a 
moment, the dense volumes of steam told us what had 
happened. Some attempted to escape by the doors 
leading to the cabin, but found it impossible. Fortu- 
nately, most of the state rooms had doors opening 
on the guards, which enabled them to reach the upper 
deck, the only place of safety in the boat. On the 
lower deck nearly every person was scalded or blown 
overboard. A gentleman, who was standing on the 
shore, saw more than twenty in the river, — only two 
of whom were picked up. 

" After the steam had blown off, the scalded and 
wounded, forty-three in number, were brought into 
the cabin, where mattresses had been spread for them ; 
and every assistance which lay in our power was 
rendered." 

The Oronoko was new, and fitted up with re- 
markable elegance for private families ; but, it has 
since been ascertained, she had, with all this show, 
old boilers. Comment is unnecessary ; — the fact 
that it was so, and may yet be so in other boats, 
we should suppose would act as a deep and warn- 
ing voice to the whole community, and arouse 
it to an universal expression of its just indignation. 
This criminal and murderous parsimony respecting 
the most important portion of the boat, should have 
been inquired into at the time, and a just punishment 
awarded to those who were entrusted with the 
responsibility. 

15* 



LOSS OF THE STEAMER TISKILWA, 

On Illinois River, April 18, 1837 ; by which upwards 
of Twenty Persons perished, 

This melancholy occurrence took place on Satur- 
day, about five miles from the mouth of the river, — 
where, through the obstinacy of the captains of two 
steamboats, one of the boats was sunk, and upwards 
of twenty lives lost. 

The captain of the steamer Wisconsin, which was 
then ascending the river, had repeatedly stated, that 
if he should meet the Tiskilwa, and her captain would 
not give him a clear channel, he would run her down. 
This, it seemed, provoked the captain of the other 
boat, and he became obstinately determined not to 
turn out of his course. Both boats met, about 5 o'clock 
in the morning, — at a time when all the passengers 
were in their berths, — and steered directly for each 
other till within only a few rods, when the captain of 
the Tiskilwa endeavored, but too late, to avoid the 
concussion ; and, by turning a little out of his course, 
gave a fair broadside to the ascending boat, which 
took her just behind the wheel, and she sunk in less 
than three minutes after she was struck. 

The first notice of their extreme danger which the 
cabin passengers received, was the screams of those 
below, who were drowning ; and, without even time 
to put on their clothes, they merely escaped by jump- 
ing through the windows of the cabin, which, fortu- 
nately for them, had been completely separated from 
the sinking boat by the shock. 



THE STEAM-SHIP PRESIDENT, 

Wlrich was probably lost in the Storm of March 
12, 1841, between Nantucket Shoals and 
George's Bank; having on board upwards of 
One Hundred Human Beings. 

It is of course impossible to state any positive facts 
relative to the loss of the steam- ship President, whe- 
ther it was by conflagration, explosion, or by founder- 
ing at sea; — the latter, from what circumstantial 
evidence we have been able to glean, is most probably 
the fact. Though the manner of her loss may never 
be known, yet there is no doubt remaining of her 
actual destruction, with the lives of every being on 
board. The time has long gone by for even hope to 
dream of her ultimate safety, and imagination alone 
may faintly attempt to picture the particulars of her 
melancholy fate. 

The steam-ship President, under the command of 
Captain Roberts, sailed from New York for Liverpool, 
March 11, 1841, having on board thirty-one passen- 
gers. The officers, crew, and servants, numbered 
about eighty, — making a total of one hundred and ten 
souls. 

The following is a correct list of the passengers : — 

T. Blancher, Cuba. D. Duchar, Scotland. 

E. Berry. John Frazer, New York. 

A. L. Byrne, London. E. B. Howell, New York. 

W. H. Courtenay, England. Mrs. E. B. Howell. N. York. 

C. S. Cadets, Buenos Ayres. Lt. F. Lennox, England. 

Rev. G. G. Cookman, Wash- A. Livingston, New York, 

ington. A. Van Lobe, Amsterdam. 

R. H. Dundas, Royal Navy. Mr. Meigegaes, Philadelphia. 



176 STEAMBOAT DISASTERS. 

S. Mails, New York. T. Palmer, Baltimore. 

W. W. Martin, England. J. C. Roberts, New York. 

Master Mohring. Mr. Thorndike, New York. 

B. Morris, and child. Dr. M. Tomer, Cuba. 

T. C. Pleffel, New York. A. R. Warburg, New York. 
Tyrone Power, and servant, J. L. Wolfe. 

England. Mrs. J. L. Wolfe, and child. 

From one of the journals of the day we extract the 
following article : — 

"A wine bottle, which had drifted ashore on the 
Horse Neck Beach, at the mouth of Buzzard's Bay, 
was picked up, a few days since, by Mr. John Devoll, 
of Westport, and was found to contain a slip, torn from 
the side margin of a newspaper, upon which the fol- 
lowing memorandum had been penned : 

' Steamship President^ sole surviver, 

the Steward— in a small boat. 

Save me— 29th May. 1 

"The fragment of paper, upon which this is written, 
is a strip about six inches long and one inch wide. 
We state what has thus come to our knowledge, leav- 
ing it to others, who are interested, to form their own 
conclusions. For ourselves, we are inclined to believe 
it an imposture ; however difficult it must be to con- 
ceive of the motive which could thus induce any in- 
dividual wantonly, to trifle with the sympathies of 
hundreds who are anxiously interested in the fate of 
the unfortunate passengers and crew who were em- 
barked in the President." 

In consequence of many rumors being afloat that 
the President left her port in an unsea worthy con- 
dition, an investigation was held in New York, June 
5, at the office of the British Consul. The principal 
points inquired into, were : — 

1. Whether the ship was what is technically termed 
hogged, or strained in the keel and frame, and that 
such was observed in Liverpool ? 



THE STEAM-SHIP PRESIDENT. 177 

2. Whether she was, as has heen stated, out of trim, 
being fully two feet by the head ? 

3. Whether there was a deficiency in spare sails 
and spars ? 

4. Whether a quantity of coals was carried on deck, 
in order to accommodate a large quantity of freight 
below; and whether, if so, it was injudicious or 
unsafe ? 

5. Whether, from these causes combined, she was 
incompetent to weather the storm or gale to which 
she was subject shortly after leaving port? 

From the evidence of Mr. Smith, one of the agents 
of the President, the statement that she was out of 
trim when she left this port was pronounced unquali- 
fiedly false ; and that the entertaining for one moment 
the idea that Captain Roberts would have taken his 
vessel to sea, had she been out of trim, was one of the 
greatest insults that could be offered to his name or 
memory. That it was not true she was so crowded 
with freight that part of her cargo was stowed in her 
coal-boxes or bunkers, and that she could have taken 
from three to four hundred more barrels of freight than 
she had on board, and that the total weight of cargo 
was not over three hundred tons, while she could 
have taken double that quantity, or more, with ease. 
That it was true that she had about sixty tons of coal 
in her between-decks, besides having her bunkers also 
filled; that it was placed there at Captain Roberts's 
own request, as he calculated that about thirty hours 
only would be necessary to get rid of it, — the President 
consuming about thirty tons in twenty-four hours;, 
and, further, that had it remained there all the voyage, 
it would but in a very slight degree have affected the 
vessel. The idea of her being hogged, or strained, was 
declared to be equally preposterous, as. just previously 
to her leaving England for the last time, she was taken 
into dock at Liverpool, thoroughly examined and 
overhauled, and her hull pronounced to be as sound 
and in as good order as it ever was. It was further 

12 



178 STEAMBOAT DISASTERS. 

stated that the rumor about a deficiency of masts 
and spars was likewise untrue, — the letter of Junius 
Smith, recently published in London, satisfactorily 
proving that she was well and fully provided with 
every thing of the kind. 

Captain Waite, of the packet-ship England, also 
testified to the original strength of the President. He 
went through her, with Captain Fayrer, before she first 
left Liverpool, examined her thoroughly, and found her 
as strong as wood and iron could make her. Mr. Lock- 
man, a gentleman who appeared for the pilot who 
took the President outside, stated that when he left 
the ship, Captain Roberts remarked that he was con- 
fident of making a short passage, his vessel being in 
good order and trim, with an abundance of fuel. 

At this meeting there were present, Rear Admiral 
Walton; George Barclay, agent for Lloyd's; and 
Thomas W. Moore, her majesty's packet agent. The 
following facts were satisfactorily elicited : — 

That there was no coal on deck, and that the ship 
was in proper trim, drawing seventeen feet nine inches 
abaft, and seventeen feet six inches forward : 

That she was not fully loaded, having spare room 
for about four hundred barrels : 

That the statement of deficiency of sails and spars 
has been satisfactorily disproved : 

That when last seen by Captain Cole, of the Or- 
pheus, during the storm on the 12th of March, she 
was between Nantucket Shoals and George's Bank, at 
which time the ship Orpheus was laboring heavily, 
and shipping large quantities of water on her deck. 

Captain Cole, of the ship Orpheus, had stated that 
he sailed in company with the President from New 
York on the 11th of March, — that he was in sight of 
her until the evening of the next day. When he last 
saw her she was rising on a tremendous sea, and ap- 
peared to be laboring and pitching very heavily. The 
Orpheus at the same time was also laboring very 
much, and shipped large quantities of water on deck. 



THE STEAM-SHIP PRESIDENT. 179 

Captain Cole thinks the President must have been at 
this time also shipping heavy seas ; that the fires were 
probably extinguished, rendering the vessel com- 
paratively helpless. The storm was dreadful during 
the whole night. The wind shifted the next morning 
from north-east to south-east, causing a still more tre- 
mendous sea, and the gale continued with unabated 
fury until midnight on the 13th. Captain Cole also 
stated that it was his further belief, that the President 
did not survive the gale, but foundered with all on board 
in less than twenty-four hours after he last saw her : 
and most probably in the terrific night of the 12th of 
March. In which opinion other nautical gentlemen 
present seemed fully to coincide ! 

Her position at the time the storm occurred, about 
latitude 39 or 40, and longitude 70 or 71, would make 
the United States her shortest route for refuge, if 
the storm left her alive, but still disabled. The 
wind continued easterly, and every thing favored 
the return of the President if she had lived the storm 
through. That return was never made ; and other 
than circumstantial evidence can never be given of 
the fate of the President. 

We annex the written opinion of Captain Hoskins, 
of the steam-ship Great Western. Months have since 
elapsed ; and although his belief in the ultimate safety 
of the President has proved fallacious, yet the remarks 
of so experienced a man, and so excellent a seaman, 
will be found of general interest. 

"Some of the opinions given in the course of the 
inquiry I differ from most distinctly, and those opin- 
ions would, no doubt, have a strong, though very 
erroneous impression on the public mind, if allowed to 
pass without notice from some one placed in a similar 
position to me, who, from very many years' experience 
of all descriptions of vessels, sailing and steam, has 
had opportunity of forming a good judgment on the 
subject. 



180 STEAMBOAT DISASTERS. 

"The opinions to which I allude are those of Captain 
Cole, of the packet-ship Orpheus, who, by the report, 
said ' that the President then must have been ship- 
ping seas heavily and fast ; that probably these huge 
bodies of water worked through into the engine-room 
or fire-room, and extinguished the fires, in which 
case the steamer would have been comparatively 
helpless.' 

" That the President was shipping water there is no 
doubt, but I do feel a perfect conviction she did not 
ship sufficient to extinguish the fires. The fire-places 
are upon the platform of the fire-room, and the plat- 
form put upon the bottom of the ship (in the Great 
Western, — the President's, I think, higher,) the open- 
ings to the engine and fire-rooms are so small as to 
render it quite impossible that a body of water suffi- 
cient to overflow the fire-place could find its way 
below, even with imprudence ; but, with the necessary 
precaution, in such weather, of battening the hatches, 
&c., down, the supposition of such a result is perfectly 
chimerical. Captain Cole's opinion appears (by the 
report) to have been coincided in by other gentlemen, 
certainly good sailors ; but with every respect for Cap- 
tain Cole and those gentlemen, I must say they are 
not competent judges in this steam-ship case. 

"I fully and entirely believe a good steam-ship the 
safest vessel that ever went to sea, and there are 
numerous instances where they have been placed in 
situations from which no sailing ship, however well 
managed, could escape. A case in point occurred at 
Barbadoes, during the last tremendous hurricane in 
the West Indies. Efer Majesty's steamer Spitfire and 
many ships were lying in Carlisle Bay ; the ships 
were all lost or stranded. The Spitfire slipt her cables 
and put to sea, in the face of the hurricane ; her decks 
were swept — her boats and paddle-boxes washed 
away — yet she never had her fires extinguished, but 
weathered it all by means of the steam power, which 
alone saved her. If the engines are damaged, still 



THE STEAM-SHIP PRESIDENT. 181 

steam-ships are safe and good sea-boats with their 
sails. 

"I was once, in the Great Western, compelled to stop 
the engines at a moment, in a heavy gale of wind, 
which was heaving her on the eastern edge of the 
bank of Newfoundland. Immediately got storm aft 
sail on her, and for two hours — the time we were stop- 
ped — she lay to beautifully, as snug and as dry as any 
ship I was ever out in, in similar weather. I do not 
know the exact proportion of losses between sailing 
and steam-ships, but I am quite sure it is very much 
in favor of steam. I am not called upon, nor do I feel 
justified, in giving any opinion respecting what may 
have happened to the President, which, I yet believe, 
is above water, possibly a log working about at the 
mercy of the winds and waves, as the Superior (a 
vessel belonging to this port) did, some time since, for 
seventy days, before she reached St. Thomas, and 
ninety days before she was heard of here. Captain 
Roberts is a sailor, with energy of character and re- 
sources from long experience, which is a strong 
inducement for hope that the President will yet be 
heard of." 

For some time after all hope had reluctantly >een 
given up respecting the safety of the President, various 
surmises were afloat as to the anticipated discovery 
of fragments of her wreck, whereby to form, if possi- 
ble, some probable idea of the manner in which she 
was lost. In the month of the following June, the ship 
North Bend fell in with a wreck, off Cape Hatteras, 
which was asserted to be that of the ill-fated steam- 
ship. The carpenter of the North Bend felt fully 
convinced on that point. He had seen the English 
steamers in New York, and said that, from the forma- 
tion of every thing, particularly of the dagger-knees, 
as well as the painting of the water-ways, he had no 
doubt of it. She had evidently been destroyed by an 
explosion of gunpowder or steam, for if she had been 

16 



182 STEAMBOAT DISASTERS. 

laden with any combustible matter, she would have 
burned to the water's edge and sunk. 

Very soon after, in contradiction to the above, it 
was stated in the public prints, that the wreck seen 
off Cape Hatteras, and supposed to be that of the Pres- 
ident, was seen by Captain Adams, of the ship 
Congress, as long ago as the 26th of the previous 
December, while on his passage from Liverpool to 
Havana. From the description given, he was confident 
it was the same hulk he saw at that time. It was 
then about thirty-five miles south-west of the Great 
Isaacs, on the edge of the Gulf Stream. On discover- 
ing it, he run down under its lee, and luffed up around 
it, near enough to get upon it from his ship. The 
dagger-knees spoken of by the carpenter of the North 
Bend, led him to run down for it, believing them, at 
first, to be men upon a wreck. He had no doubt, that 
the wreck alluded to above, was the same that he 
saw ; and that it had continued to drift in the current 
until fallen in with off Cape Hatteras. 

The master of the brig Augusta, Captain Sawyer, 
who arrived at Philadelphia on the 30th of June, re- 
ported having seen, on the 25th, about ninety miles south 
of Cape Hatteras, the wreck of a very large steamer, 
burnt to the water's edge. He bore down close to her, 
but, from her being so much burnt, was unable to 
learn her name. One guard was underneath the 
water, while the blackened and charred frame of the 
other yet remained above. It was thought by some 
to be the remains of the ill-fated President. If true, 
the many conjectures which have been started, as to 
the cause of her loss, have all proved unfounded. 
Fire would appear to have been the fearful element 
of destruction, instead of storms and icebergs. 

But, as we have elsewhere remarked, every surmise 
on this awful subject is not only painful, but equally 
fruitless and vain. One appalling fact impresses itself 
upon the bewildered mind with a weight that ensures 
shuddering conviction : the steam-ship President was 



THE STEAM-SHIP PRESIDENT. 183 

— and is no more. She has gone, and left no track 
upon the pathless sea. The last faint ray of hope 
has long departed, and the darkness of uncertainty 
has settled over her fate. In the beautiful language 
of Washington Irving, we exclaim, " What sighs have 
been wafted after that ship ! What prayers offered up at 
the deserted fire-side of home ! How often has the 
sister, the wife, the mother, pored over daily news to 
catch some casual intelligence of this rover of the 
deep ! How has expectation darkened into anxiety, 
— anxiety into dread, — and dread into despair ! Alas ! 
not one memento shall ever return for love to cherish. 
All that shall ever be known is,— that she sailed from 
her port, — ' and was never heard of more /' " 



TO THE PRESIDENT STEAM-SHIP. 

BY WILLIAM B. TAPPAN. 

Proud barque ! we freighted thee with gold ; 

Our choicest gems we gave to thee ; 
Thou had'st our all ; — to have and hold, 

And bear in safety o'er the sea. 
Art thou unfaithful to the trust ? 
Wilt thou fulfil 't ?— Be just ! be just ! 

We left our treasures with regret; 

We counted Jhem, for they were dear ; 
Some laughed, as care they would forget, 

And some in sadness dropped the tear. 
The veriest miser of us knew 
His hoards were safe, for thou wert true. 

Hadst.thou not often borne for us 

Rich household gifts of price unknown? 

And didst thou ever, wrongly, thus 

Keep back what was not all thine own ? 

O who mistrusted ! or would shun 

Thy faithless care ? — Not one ! not one ! 



184 STEAMBOAT DISASTERS. 

We saw thee leave us in thy pride ; — 
And many a prayer pursued thy track, 

That He, who ebbs and floods the tide, 

And chains the sea, would bring thee back 

Yet not one bosom harbored doubt 

Of her return, that thus went out. 

We trusted God, yet trusted much 
Thy noble frame of steel and oak ; 

Strong as thy mates, we said that such 
Could brave the tempest's fiercest stroke ; 

Nor pitch too deeply down, nor reel 

Though timbers shivered to the keel. 

We trusted God, yet trusted too 
To science, and the perfect skill 

Which could a trackless way pursue, 
And make a distant port at will. 

We trusted man, well-tried of old ; 

We trusted thee — give back our gold ! 

Give back the light of friendship's day, — 
The hearts that bound us in their spell; 

We parted not with these, for aye ! 
We had not said a last ' farewell ! ' 

Give back, O journeyer of the sea, 

Our own, and blessings be on thee ! 

In vain ! in vain ! — to earnest cry 

Of widow and of fatherless, 
The sullen winds bring no reply; 

Though for the tidings, we would bless 
The sullen winds, the cruel sea, 
If tidings they would give of thee ! 

In vain ! in vain ! no pitying friend 
Beheld thee climb the dreadful wave, 

And from that altitude descend 
To an unfathomable grave. 

Yet thou wast faithful, as we knew, 

For with thy trust thou 'st perished too ! 



CONFLAGRATION OF THE LEXINGTON, 

On Long Island Sound, while on her Passage from 
New York to Stonlngton, January 13, 1840 ; by 
which Terrible Catastrophe upwards of One 
Hundred and Fifty Persons perished ; only Four 
escaping of the entire number on board, 

The steamboat Lexington, Captain George Child, 
left New York, for Stonington, on Monday, January 
13, at 3 o'clock, P. M., with upwards of one hundred 
passengers, and a large freight, consisting principally 
of cotton. At 7 o'clock, when about three or four 
miles from Eaton's Neck, Long Island, some bales of 
cotton, and the casings around the smoke-pipe, were 
discovered to be on fire. The wind at the time was 
blowing fresh from the north, which, with the dread- 
ful confusion that reigned among all on board, ren- 
dered ineifectual every attempt to check the fire. 

The boat was then headed for Long Island shore, 
and driven with all speed in that direction, until the 
wind blew the flames and smoke back to such an ex- 
tent that it was found impossible to steer, or to remain 
longer in the stern of the boat. She had not, in fact, 
proceeded far, when the tiller ropes were burnt off, 
and she was rendered wholly unmanageable. The 
passengers at this time were mostly in the forward 
part of the boat, and the fire amidship prevented any 
communication with those in the after part. In this 
frightful condition, a rush was made to the small 
boats, of which there were three, besides the life-boat. 
Amid the utter confusion and terror that prevailed, 



188 STEAMBOAT DISASTERS. 

they were hoisted out while the burning boat was 
under full headway, and were immediately swamped, 
— being filled with passengers, not one of whom es- 
caped. 

The engine soon after gave way, and the boat 
drifted about on the sea, at the mercy of wind and 
tide, while the flames were sweeping over her from 
bow to stern. The scene that ensued was appalling, 
and baffles all attempt at description. Bales of cot- 
ton, boxes, trunks, every thing that offered trie least 
possible chance of preserving life, had been thrown 
overboard ; and the sufferers threw themselves from 
the burning wreck into the freezing sea, clinging to 
whatever article they could reach, in the desperate 
hope, perchance, that existence might yet be pre- 
served. How vainly, alas ! subsequent accounts of 
the terrific loss of life has proved. 

The lurid light of the blazing wreck shone far over 
the cold and dreary waste of waters, showing, with 
fearful distinctness, the dreadful scene in its immedi- 
ate vicinity. Human beings were floating around in 
every direction ; some were yet living, but more had 
ceased to be ; some were struggling to gain a frag- 
ment or bale of cotton ; while others, in happy un- 
consciousness, were sinking into the cold flood of 
death. Here was heard the last wild shriek of de- 
spair. Husbands, wives, fathers, mothers, and chil- 
dren, were plunging into eternity, with the heart- 
breaking cry of agony dying on their lips. What 
heart but sickens at such a picture, however feebly 
wrought ! 

" O, bitter elements ! and ye, more cruel fate ! 
Hearts doomed to perish in their youthful love, — 
Hopes crushed forever, — homes made desolate, — 
Ties broken, — tears and torture, far above 
The strength of thought, to rack the bleeding soul ; — 
These are the monuments that mark the goal 

At which, alone, death terminates your wide control." 



CONFLAGRATION OP THE LEXINGTON. 189 

The loss of this steamboat, involving, as it does, 
the fate of so many souls, is far the most melancholy, 
even in the gloomy record of steamboat disasters. 
Widowed mothers, with their families of children, — 
robust men, actively engaged in the hurry of business 
life, — mariners, who had been absent for years, and 
were within a half day of their homes, — the divine, — 
the learned professor, — the merchant, — men of talent, 
wit, worth, — in sight of shore, all sinking to a com- 
mon grave, — scarcely one, comparatively speaking, 
escaping to relate the dreadful story ; — the bare men- 
tion of these facts calls up before the mind a scene, 
from the contemplation of which we shrink with hor- 
ror. We have no recollection of any calamity which 
rilled the public mind so universally with sorrow as 
this. Never, we are sure, has the truth, that "there 
is but a step between life and death," been more 
mournfully realized by the whole community. 

The burning of the boat was seen from the Con- 
necticut and Long Island shores; but all efforts to 
render assistance proved unavailing. She drifted up 
the sound with the tide, and was burning eight hours 
before she sunk. An eye-witness said : — " The boat 
was seen on fire, drifting past Stony Brook, about 
midway of the sound, the blaze shooting up from her 
in columns, lighting up the waters for miles around. 
A small boat put off, but returned after going a mile or 
two, it being too rough to venture farther. The 
Lexington was seen until shut in by Crane Neck 
Point — and seen no more! From her direction, and 
the place where she was last seen, she must have 
been drifting directly for the light boat on the middle 
ground, and could have been but two or three miles 
from it when last discerned by her blaze, which 
showed her solitary and sable chimneys, standing as 
monuments over some mighty moving catacomb of 
death." 

Of the large number of individuals on board the 
Lexington, nearly one hundred and fifty, including 



190 



STEAMBOAT DISASTERS. 



the crew, there were but four saved, — Captain Ches- 
ter Hillard, of Norwich, Conn., a passenger; Captain 
Stephen Manchester, the pilot of the boat ; David 
Crowley, the second mate, and Charles Smith, a fire- 
man. That these four individuals were saved, and 
the manner of their preservation, is almost miraculous, 
exposed as they were from fifteen to forty -eight hours 
to the severity of the coldest weather of winter, de- 
void of requisite clothing, and on the frail security of 
a cotton-bale, tossing over a freezing sea. 

The following is believed to be a correct list of the 
names of the passengers, as far as could be ascer- 
tained : — 



H. Aldrich, Bridgewater. 
Mrs. Lydia Bates, 
James C. Bates, and 
Miss Lydia C. Bates, Bur- 
lington, N. J. 
Geo. Benson, Brooklyn. 
Ch. Brackett, New York. 
Mr. Baum, New York. 
E. Brown, Jr., Providence. 
John Brown, Boston. 
H. C. Bradford, Boston. 
Mr. Bullard, Boston. 
J. G. Brown, New Orleans. 
Robt. Blake, Wrentham, Ms. 
Mr. Ballou, N. York. 
C. Boswell, Royalton, Vt. 
John Brown, (colored.) 
Capt. J. D. Carver, Plymouth. 
Mr. Carey, N. York. 
R. T. Church, Baltimore. 
Win. Cowen, N. York. 
John Corey, Foxborough. 
H. C. Craig, N. York. 
R. W. Dow, N. York. 
J. G. Davenport, Middletown. 
Isaac Davis, Boston. 



Wm. Dexter, Boston. 

Mr. Dorr. 

A. F. Dyer, Braintree, Ms. 

Charles Eberle, Boston. 

Otis Eldridge, Boston. 

John Everett, N. York. 

J. P. Felt, Jr., Salem. 

Henry J. Finn, Boston. 

Dr. Follen, Cambridge. 

Capt. B. J. Foster, Providence. 

Mr. Fowler, N. York. 

John Gordon, Cambridge. 

D. Greene, Philadelphia. 

W. A. Greene, Providence. 

A. E. Harding, N. York. 

Adolp. Harnden, N. York. 

Capt. Chester Hillard, of Nor- 
wich, Ct., — saved. 

S. Henry, Manchester, Eng. 

Nath. Hobart, Boston. 

Abr'm Howard, Boston. 

Benj. D. Holmes, Boston. 

Wm. H. Hoyt, mail contractor. 

Isaac Howes. 

Mrs. Russell Jarvis, and two 
children, N. York. 



CONFLAGRATION OF THE LEXINGTON. 



191 



Thomas James, N. York. 
Joshua Johnson. 
J. W. Kerle, Baltimore. 
Capt. E. S. Kimball, Salem. 
Capt. J. G. Low. 
Hez. Lawrence, N. York. 
J. A. Leach, Boston. 
J. Lemist, Roxbury, Ms. 
John Linfield, Stoughton. 
Charles Lee, Barre, Ms. 
T. H. M. Lyon, Boston. 
P. McKenna, N. York. 
A. Mason, Gloucester. 
John Marshall, N. York. 
Capt. David McFarland. 
Capt. Mattison, Cold Spring. 
John Martin, England. 
Gilbert Martin, England. 
Mr. Narine, N. York. 
Wm. Nichols, Providence. 
C. S. Noyes, N. York. 
E. B. Patten, N. York. 
R. Pickett, Newburyport. 
M. Peck, Stonington, 
C. R. Phelps, Stonington. 
William Price, Portland. 
M. Phelps, N. York. 
R. Pierpont, N. York. 



J. Roy, Kennebunk, Me. 
Mrs. M. Russell, Stonington. 
Robert Shultz, N. York. 
T. Smith, Dartmouth. 
Mr. Steele, N. York. 
Mr. Stuyvesant, Boston. 
G. O. Swan, Columbus. 
G. B. Smith, Brooklyn. 
John G. Stone, Boston. 
Capt. Smith, Dedham. 
Wm. Symmes, N. York. 
W. H. Townsend, and two 

children, N. York. 
P. Upson, Egremont, Ms. 
Mr. Van Cott, Stonington. 
S. Waterbury, N. York, 
J. L. Winslow, Providence. 
W. Winslow, Providence. 
Mrs. A. Winslow, Providence. 
C. W. Woolsey, Boston. 
Thomas White, Boston. 
G. W. Walker, Worcester. 
J. Weston, Baltimore. 
R. Williams, Cold Spring. 
W. H. Wilson, Williamsburg. 
J. Walker, Cambridgeport. 
Mr. Walker, Belchertown. 
Miss S.T.Wheeler,Greenfield. 



List of the Officers and Crew. 

George Child, captain. Capt. Stephen Manchester, 

E. Thurber, first mate. pilot, — saved. 

David Crowley, second mate, Charles B. Smith, fireman, — 



-saved. 
Jesse Comstock, clerk. 
J. B. Newman, steward. 
Mr. Hoyt, baggage master. 
C. Hempstead, 1st engineer. 
W. Quimby, 2d engineer. 
M. Johnson, wheel-man. 



saved. 

Robert Shatter, fireman. 
B. B. Schuyler. 
George Baum. 
Henry Reed. 
Benjamin Cox. 
Charles Williams. 



192 



STEAMBOAT DISASTERS. 



Benjamin Laden. 

C. Humber. 

Joel Lawrence. 

Susan Holcomb, chamberm'd. 

Joseph Robinson, (colored.) 

Robert Peters, " 

Job Sands, " 

Daniel Aldrich, " 

G. Gilbert, " 



Oliver Howell, (colored.) 
King Cade, 
J. Rostin, 
J. B. Tab, 
E. Parkson, 
John Masson, 
Solomon Askons, 
Isaac Putnam, 



From various sources, published at the time, we 
gather the following, which varies but little in sub- 
stance, however, from the preceding account : — 

The Lexington left New York on Monday, at 3 
o'clock, P. M., for Stonington, with about one hun- 
dred passengers. A large quantity of cotton was 
placed upon her decks. At 7 o'clock, when about two 
miles from Eaton's Neck, Long Island, the cotton 
took fire near the smoke-pipe. An attempt was 
made to rig the fire-engine on board, but it did not 
succeed. 

After it was found that all efforts to suppress the 
flames would be unavailing, the boat was headed to- 
wards Long Island shore. In about fifteen minutes 
the tiller ropes were burnt, and the boat became un- 
manageable. The engine, however, kept in opera- 
tion, under a heavy head of steam. The three small 
boats were hoisted out with all possible haste, but 
they swamped soon after they struck the water, in 
consequence of the speed with which the steamer 
was going towards the shore. A life-boat, which was 
on board, was also thrown over, but caught under the 
wheel and was lost. When the Lexington had got 
within about two miles of the shore, her engine sud- 
denly stopped. All hopes of escape to those on board, 
except by clinging to such articles of freight as w r ould 
sustain them, were now cut off. 

Captain Hillard, in company with some other per- 
son, secured a cotton-bale, on which he remained, the 
wind blowing off Long Island shore, until 11 o'clock 



CONFLAGRATION OF THE LEXINGTON. 193 

the next morning, having been exposed for fifteen 
hours, when he was taken up by the sloop Merchant, 
Captain Meeker, of Southport. His companion, in the 
meantime, had been released from his sufferings by 
death. Two others were also picked up by the sloop, 
Charles Smith, a fireman, and Captain Manchester, 
the pilot ; both were nearly insensible. 

The boat drifted up the sound with the tide, and 
was off the harbor of Bridgeport about midnight. Ef- 
forts were made to go from Bridgeport; and from 
Southport, to the assistance of the sufferers, but, unfor- 
tunately, owing to ice and other untoward circum- 
stances, they were unsuccessful. 

Captain Meeker discovered the steamer on fire soon 
after it broke out, and attempted to get out of South- 
port ; but the harbor being shallow, and the tide fall- 
ing, his vessel went aground, and he did not get out 
until the morning tide. 

At one time the burning steamboat was within a 
mile and a half of the Long Island shore ; but, prob- 
ably from the tiller chains giving away, she soon rap- 
idly receded. A boat put out from the shore at one 
time, and rowed two or three miles, but finding the 
Lexington increasing her distance, returned. It was 
low tide, and none of the sloops and schooners could 
get out. Some of the inhabitants say they heard two 
explosions in the night, which they have since sup- 
posed to have been caused by the bursting of the 
boilers. 

On Wednesday evening succeeding this melancholy 
disaster, the fourth and last surviver, David Crowley, 
the second mate of the Lexington, floated ashore on a 
single bale of cotton, having drifted upwards of fifty 
miles. On reaching the shore, he walked three quar- 
ters of a mile to gain the nearest house. He was so 
exhausted that he could not utter an articulate sound. 
Without coat or hat, exposed to the bleak severity 
of some of the coldest weather of winter, he had 
floated over the water for two days and two nights ! 

17 13 



194 STEAMBOAT DISASTERS. 

How human nature could have been sustained under 
such exposure, and for such a length of time, we are 
at a loss to conceive. From one or two. who have 
conversed with Mr. Crowley, the following particulars 
are gathered relative to his escape : — 

On Tuesday, the morning after the misfortune, he 
saw the sloop Merchant pick up one or two persons ; 
he endeavored, by holding up his waistcoat, to at- 
tract their notice, but without success. When the 
night of that day came on, he thought himself near 
Falkland Island, and expected to drift ashore there, 
but, finding himself exhausted, he, miraculous to state, 
composed himself on his bale of cotton, went to sleep, 
and slept soundly until morning ! Much revived by 
his sleep, he continued, through the following day, 
to make every exertion, his situation permitted, to 
reach the land, which, however, he did not do until 
night. When landed, he scaled the high bank on 
the shore, when a light at a distance attracted his 
notice ; he followed its direction until he reached the 
hospitable mansion of Mr. Huntingdon, at the mo- 
ment his son had just arrived there, and was relating 
the particulars of the loss of the Lexington. His 
unexpected appearance, pale and wretched, with his 
waistcoat round his head, naturally created sensa- 
tions of pity and astonishment; he received all the 
care and attention his helpless and miserable situation 
required. 

The following is the substance of the statement 
given by Mr. Crowley : — 

On the alarm of fire being given, he immediately 
proceeded to the spot whence it came, and there dis- 
covered six bales of cotton on fire, which had not then 
spread to any part of the wood- work. He immediately 
handed up to Captain Manchester, who was on the 
promenade-deck, three pails of water, and then, with 
the deck hands and waiters, continued to draw water 
and throw it on the fire ; they did so without any 
confusion, and with the most strenuous exertion, until 
they were driven away by the strength of the flames. 



CONFLAGRATION OF THE LEXINGTON. 195 

Captain Child was among them, aiding and directing, 
and it was not until all hopes of saving the boat was 
gone, that Captain Child, in reply to an inquiry from 
some of the passengers of what was to be done, re- 
plied, in a collected manner, "Gentlemen, take to the 
boats," and then went aft, himself; which was the 
last time Mr. Crowley saw him. He also stated that 
before leaving the wreck, he saw one of the quarter- 
boats launched by some of the passengers, and called 
out to them to put the plug in the boat ; that he as- 
sisted one of the passengers to throw overboard the 
hawser tub, and another, the chaffing board ; that he 
himself at last threw over a side-plank, and jumped 
on it ; soon afterward, swam to a bale of cotton which 
floated near him. While on this bale of cotton, he 
never lost his presence of mind, or his hope of escape, 
and noted the different points of land which he kneWj 
as he floated past them. 

We commend to the attention of all, the interesting 
testimony of Captain Hillard, and that of the other 
survivers. It presents a clear and connected history 
of the melancholy event, and makes much intelligible 
that has heretofore seemed difficult to understand. 
Prom Captain Hillard' s testimony, it would appear that 
the passengers, or a large portion of them, took pos- 
session of the boats, and drowned themselves, even 
before the danger became imminent; and that, had 
they waited but ten minutes longer, the way of the 
boat would have been stopped, and the quarter boats 
could have been deliberately lowered, and the greater 
part, if not all, saved. When, with singular self- 
possession, he lowered himself into the sea^ nearly all 
the passengers had already found a watery grave. 

The small number of passengers seen by Captain 
Manchester on the forecastle, and the large proportion 
of the boat hands, is also explained, by the hasty 
measures of the passengers, as described by Captain 
Hillard. His expression that a phrenzy, and a de- 



196 STEAMBOAT DISASTERS. 

termination to destroy themselves, appeared to have 
seized them, appears literally true, as proved by their 
unhappy course. But we have no need to reproach 
the unfortunate with lack of presence of mind, until 
we shall have been placed in a similar position of 
imminent peril. It may do for Captain Hillard to 
speak as he did of them, as he had passed the fiery 
ordeal, and had shown himself throughout a man of 
extraordinary nerve and self-possession. 

The passage of the testimony relative to the little 
child floating near the stern of the boat, — the mother, 
regardless of herself, calling upon him to save her 
child, — gives us another instance of the disinterested 
affection of the mother. It may have been that this 
lady was Mrs. Jarvis; and, as the child was a female, 
the supposition seems extremely probable, — nay, al- 
most certain. To her friends, this will seem as a last 
interview with the departed. The centering of her 
heart upon an object, dear alike to all while all sur- 
vived, and doubly dear in the memory of the lonely 
and heart-stricken survivers, will lead fancy to date 
the last communion of thought as held upon the burn- 
ing wreck of the Lexington. When time has mellowed 
their grief into that pleasing melancholy which de- 
lights to dwell on the virtues of the departed, it will 
seem to the desolate husband as if he were present at 
the scene, and shared the solicitude of the mother, 
who cared only for her child, when her own death was 
certain. 

Extract from the testimony of Captain Hillard 
before the Jury of Inquest, held in New York : — 

"It was about an hour after supper that I first 
heard the alarm of fire. I was then on the point of 
turning in, and had my coat and boots off. I slipped 
them on. I then discovered the casing of the smoke- 
pipe, and, I think, a part of the promenade-deck, on 
fire. There was a great rush of the passengers, and 
much confusion, so that I could not notice particularly. 



CONFLAGRATION OP THE LEXINGTON. 197 

The after part of the casing was burning, and the fire 
was making aft. I thought, at the time, that the fire 
might be subdued ; but, being aft at the time, could 
not, therefore, see distinctly. 

" I saw nothing of the commander, and from what 
I could hear of the crew forward, I supposed they 
were at work trying to rig the fire-engine. I saw no 
buckets used, and think they were not made use of. 
I think the fire-engine was not got to work, as I saw 
nothing of it. I shortly after went on the promenade- 
deck. My attention had previously been directed to 
the passengers, who were rushing into the quarter 
V>ats, and when I went on the quarter-deck, the boats 
were both filled. They seemed to be stupidly deter- 
mined to destroy themselves, as well as the boats, 
which were their only means of safety. I went to 
the starboard boat, which they were lowering away ; 
they lowered it until she took the water, and then I 
saw some one cut away the forward tackle fall ; it 
was at all events disengaged, and no one at the time 
could have unhooked the fall. The boat instantly filled 
with water, there being at the time about twenty 
persons in her; and the boat passed immediately 
astern, entirely clear. I then went to the other side ; 
the other boat was cleared away and lowered in the 
same manner as the first, full of passengers. This 
boat fell astern, entirely disengaged, as the other had 
done ; but fell away before she had entirely filled 
with water. 

" By this time the fire had got under such headway, 
that I pretty much made my mind up c it was a gone 
case? I thought that the best thing that could be 
done was to run the boat ashore, and for this purpose 
went to the wheel-house to look for Captain Child, 
expecting to find him there. I found him there, and 
advised him to run for the shore. He replied that 
she was already headed for the land. The fire by 
this time began to come up around the promenade- 
deck, and the wheel-house was completely filled with 

17* 



198 STEAMBOAT DISASTERS. 

smoke. There were two or three on the promenade- 
deck, near the wheel-house, and their attention was 
turned to the life-boat ; it was cleared away. I as- 
sisted in stripping off the canvass, but I had no notion 
of going in her, as I had made my mind up that they 
would serve her as they had done the other boats. 
The steamer was then under headway. 

1 'Before I left the promenade-deck I thought it was 
time for me to leave j however, as the fire was burst- 
ing up through the deck, I went aft and down on to 
the main-deck. They were then at work with the 
hose, but whether by the aid of the engine, or not, I 
cannot say. The smoke was so dense that I could 
not see distinctly what they were about. I think that 
the communication with the fore part of the boat was 
by this time cut off. From the first hearing of the 
alarm, perhaps twenty minutes had elapsed. The 
engine had now been stopped about five minutes. 1 
recommended to the few deck hands and passengers 
who remained, to throw the cotton overboard ; and 
told them that they must do something for themselves, 
and the best thing they could do was to take to the 
cotton. There were perhaps ten or a dozen bales 
thrown overboard, which was pretty much all there 
were, on the larboard side, which had not taken fire. 

" I then cut off a piece of line, perhaps four or five 
fathoms, and with it spanned a bale of cotton, which, 
I believe, was the last one not on fire. It was a very 
snug, square bale, about four feet long and three feet 
wide, and a foot and a half thick. Aided by one of 
the firemen, I put the bale up on the rail, round which 
we took a turn, slipped the bale down below the guard, 
when we both got on to it. The boat then lay broad- 
side to the wind, and we were under the lee of the 
boat, on the larboard side. We placed ourselves, one 
on each end of the bale, facing each other ; with our 
weight it was about one third out of the water. The 
wind was pretty fresh, and we drifted at the rate of 
about a knot and a half. We did not lash ourselves 



CONFLAGRATION OF THE LEXINGTON. 



199 



to the bale, but coiled the rope up and laid it on the 
bale. My companion did not like the idea of leaving 
the boat immediately, but wished to hold on to the 
guards ; but I determined to get out of the way, be- 
lieving that to remain there much longer, it would 
become pretty hot quarters. We accordingly shoved 
the bale round the stern, when we left the boat and 
drifted away about a knot and a half. This was just 
8 o'clock by my watch, which I took out and looked 
at. As we left the wreck, I picked up a piece of 
board, which I used as a paddle or rudder, with which 
to keep the bale end to the sea. 




Captain Hillard and his companion on the bale of cotton. 



" At the time we left the boat there were but few 
persons remaining on board. I saw one lady, and 
the reason why I particularly noticed her was that 
her child had got overboard, and was then about two 
rods from her. We passed by the child so near that I 
could put my hand on it as it lay on its back. She 
saw us approaching the child, and cried out for us to 



200 STEAMBOAT DISASTERS. 

save it. The child, which from its dress appeared to 
be a female, was dead when we passed it ; nor can I 
recollect what was said by the lady. It was hard to 
notice particulars at the time, as it was pretty rough, 
and I had as much as I could do to manage the bale 
of cotton. We then drifted away from the boat, and 
in ten minutes more we could see no persons on board, 
excepting those on the forecastle. 

"We sat astride of the bale with our feet in the 
water ; but were wet up to the middle from the water 
frequently washing over. We were in sight of the 
boat all the time till she went down, when we were 
about a mile distant. When we left the wreck it 
was cloudy; but, about 9 o'clock, it cleared off, and 
we had a clear night of it until the moon went down. 
I looked at my watch as often as every half hour, 
through the night. The boat went down at 3 o'clock. 
It was so cold as to make it necessary for me to exert 
myself to keep warm, which I did by whipping my 
hands and arms around my body. 

"About 4 o'clock the bale capsized with us ; aheavy 
sea came and carried it over end-ways. We managed 
to get on the bale on its opposite side. At this time we 
lost our piece of board, which had been useful as a 
paddle, and afterwards the bale was ungovernable. 
My companion had complained much of the cold from 
our first setting out ; he appeared to have given up all 
hope of our being saved. On our first starting from 
the boat, I gave him my vest, as he had on only a 
flannel shirt, and pantaloons, boots and cap. Cox^ 
remained on the bale, after it had upset, about two 
hours, or more, until it was about daylight. For the 
last half hour that he remained on the bale he had 
been speechless, and seemed to have lost all use of his 
hands, as he did not try to hold on. I rubbed him 
and beat his flesh, and used every effort I could to 

* Benjamin Cox, of New York. He left a wife and several children in a 
deplorable situation. His wretched widow offered her last mite, about five 
dollars, for the recovery of the body of her unfortunate husband. 



CONFLAGRATION OF THE LEXINGTON. 201 

keep his blood in circulation. It was still very rough, 
and I was obliged to exert myself to hold on. The 
bale coming broad-side to the sea, it gave a lurch, and 
Cox slipped off, and I saw him no more. He went 
down without a struggle. 

"I now got more into the middle of the bale, to 
make it ride as it should, and in that way continued 
for about an hour, when I got my feet on the bale, 
and so remained until the sloop picked me up." 

Extract from the testimony of Captain Stephen 
Manchester, the pilot of the Lexington : — 

" When I first heard the alarm of fire, about half 
past 7 o'clock, some one came to the wheel-house 
door and told me that the boat was on fire. My first 
movement was to step out of the wheel-house and 
look aft ; saw the upper deck burning all round the 
smoke-pipe, the flames coming up through the prome- 
nade-deck. I returned into the wheel-house and put 
the wheel hard-a-port to steer the boat for the land. I 
then thought it very doubtful whether the fire could 
be extinguished. We were about four miles from 
Long Island shore, and, at the rate we were then 
going, it would take about twenty minutes to rt,a^h it. 

" We had not yet headed to the land, when some- 
thing gave way, which I believe was the tiller rope. 
Thinks she was heading about south-east, and Long 
Island bore about south, when the tiller rope gave 
way. The engine was then working, and the boat 
fell ahead more to the eastward. Captain Child then 
came into the wheel-house, and put his hand to the 
spoke of the wheel, and, as he did so, the rope gave 
way; presumes it was the rope attached to the wheel; 
at the same time the smoke came into the wheel- 
house, and we were obliged to go out. I suspect he 
went aft, but I never saw him afterwards. When he 
went out, he went down on the forward-deck. I do not 
recollect whether he expressed any alarm. I then 
called to those on the forecastle to get out the fire- 



g02 STEAMBOAT DISASTERS. 

engine and buckets. The engine was got out, but they 
could not get at the buckets, or at least I only saw a 
few. 

" I am of opinion the wheel-ropes burnt off; but I 
could not have stood it longer even if there had been 
chains round the wheel. I think there was then an 
opportunity to go from the wheel-house aft, where 
there was another steering apparatus, a good tiller, 
with chains which ran through blocks. All boats are 
so rigged, in order that if any thing happens to the 
rudder, this can be used in its place. I did not go aft 
to it, because I thought my services would be more 
useful forward. After calling to get out the engine, 
I went to the life-boat, and found some persons taking 
the tarpaulin off it. I caught hold of the lashing of 
the boat, and requested them not to let her go until 
we got a line fastened to her. I called to those at the 
forecastle to pass a line to make fast to her, which 
they did, and we fastened it to her bow. The fire was 
then burning through the promenade-deck. I cut 
the lashing, and told them to launch the boat. I 
jumped from the promenade-deck down on the for- 
ward-deck, took hold of the hawser, and found it was 
not fastened to the steamboat. I told them to hold 
on to the rope, but they all let go, one after another ; 
-the engine was still going, and I was obliged to let it 
go myself also. 

"We then found two buckets, and commenced 
throwing water with them and the specie-boxes; we 
got the water from over the side of the boat, which 
was then nearly stopped. While doing this, some 
others took the flag-staffs and parts of the bulwarks, 
and made a raft, to which we made a line fast and 
hove it over the side of the boat. We then threw the 
baggage overboard from four baggage-cars, and made 
them fast with a line. The engine by this time was 
entirely stopped. It worked from ten to fifteen minutes, 
going gradually slower, until it ceased. We threw 
out every thing by which we thought any person 



CONFLAGRATION OF THE LEXINGTON. 203 

could save themselves; and continued throwing on 
water, in hopes that some relief might reach us. 

" The main-deck now fell in as far as the capstan, 
and the people had by this time got overboard, some 
of them drowned, and others hurried on to the bag- 
gage-cars, the raft, and other things. What was left 
of the main-deck was now on fire, and got us cornered 
up in so small a space that we could do nothing more 
by throwing water. There were then only eight or 
ten persons astern on the steamboat, and about thirty 
on the forecastle. They were asking me what they 
should do ; and I told them I saw no chance for any 
of us ; that if we stayed there, we should be burned 
to death, and if we went overboard, we should prob- 
ably perish. Among those who were there, was Mr. 
Hoyt, Mr. Van Cott, and another person, named 
Harnden, who had charge of the express line. I did 
not know any one else. 

"I then took a piece of spun-yarn and made it fast 
to my coat, and also to the rail, and so eased myself 
down upon the raft. There were two or three others 
on it already, and my weight sank it. I held on to 
the rope until it came up again ; and when it did, I 
sprang up and caught a piece of railing, which was in 
the water, and from thence got on a bale of cotton, 
where there was a man sitting ; found the bale was 
made fast to the railing ; I took out my knife and cut 
it off. At the time I cut this rope, I saw some person 
standing on the piece of railing, who asked me if 
there was room for another. I made no answer, and 
he jumped, and knocked off the man that was with 
me ; and I hauled him on again. I caught a piece of 
board, which was floating past, and shoved the bale 
clean off from the raft, and used the board to endea- 
vor to get in shore at Crane Neck Point, in which I 
could not succeed ; but I used the board as long as I 
could, for exercise. 

" When I left the wreck, I looked at my watch. 
and it was just 12 o'clock. I think the man who was 



2U4 STEAMBOAT DISASTERS. 

on the bale with me said his name was M'Kenna, and 
lived at New York. He spoke of his wife and chil- 
dren, — how he had kissed them the morning he left 
home, — and said he feared he should perish with the 
cold. He died about 3 o'clock. After I had hauled 




Captain Manchester and M'Kenna on the bale of cotton. 

him on the bale, I had encouraged him, and told him 
to thrash his hands, which he did for a spell, but soon 
pretty much gave up. When he died, he fell back on 
the bale, and the first sea that came washed him off. 
My hands were then so frozen that I could hardly use 
them at all. Was about three miles from the wreck 
when she sunk ; and the last thing I recollect, was 
seeing the sloop, and raising my handkerchief between 
my fingers, hoping they would see me. I was then 
sitting on the cotton, with my feet in the water. The 
bale did not seem to roll at all, although there were 
some heavy seas. 

"I was taken off the cotton by Captain Meeker, 
and brought to Southport, where I received every 
possible attention." 



CONFLAGRATION OF THE LEXINGTON. 205 

Captain Manchester also stated in addition to the 
foregoing : — 

" I knew Captain Child for ten or fifteen years. He 
and I were packet masters for several years, and since 
then he has commanded the steamboats Providence 
and Narraganset. He was a man of considerable de- 
cision of character, and had commanded a steamboat 
for four years. When he came to the wheel-house, on 
the night of the fire, he appeared to be agitated, but 
there was too short time for me to remark much. I 
think the fire originated from the smoke-pipe ; it was 
very red that night, and the cotton was most likely 
piled within two feet of the steam-chimney. The 
boat was going about twelve knots an hour, but 
the engine went gradually slower until it stopped, 
which was about twenty minutes after the first 
alarm." 

Extract from the account as given by Charles B. 
Smith, fireman on board the Lexington : — 

" The first time I heard the alarm of fire was about 
half past 7 o'clock in the evening. I was in my room 
asleep, on the guard. A man came in and told me 
that the boat was on fire. I got out of my berth. The 
door of the room was open, directly opposite the 
steam-chimney, and I saw the promenade-deck and 
part of the casing around the chimney on fire ; went 
immediately into the crank-room and put on the hose, 
opened the cocks, and tried to get to the end of the 
hose to play on the fire, but the fire and smoke pre- 
vented me. The hose was lying alongside of the 
bulkhead, alongside of the air-pump. I went aft of 
the shaft to get breath, and then tried to get the buck- 
ets down that hung over the shaft, which the fire 
prevented me from doing. I then went aft, with the 
intention of getting into the boat. I there saw Captain 
Child standing on the rail, by the crane of the boat, 
on the starboard side, and heard him sing out for 
the engineer. The engineer answered ; and the cap- 

18 



206 STEAMBOAT DISASTERS. 

tain asked him if he could stop the engine. He replied 
that it was impossible, as the fire prevented. 

" I had now got to where Captain Child stood, and 
saw the bow tackle of the boat cut away, with the 
boat full of passengers. The bows of the boat filled 
with water, and she swung round on her stern tackle. 
Captain Child sung out to hold on to the boat, and 
slipped down to the fender, outside of the bulwark. 
I slipped over after him. He stepped into the stern- 
sheets of the boat, and I put my foot on the stern of 
the boat, and hauled it back, and just as I got my foot 
back, the stern tackle was let go, but whether it was 
cut or not, I do not know. That was the last I saw 
of the boat or the captain. Captain Child was in the 
boat at the time. I got over the stern then, with the 
intention of getting on to the rudder. I hung by the 
netting, kicked in three cabin windows, and, lowering 
myself down, got on the rudder. 

" I had been there but a minute or two, when I was 
followed by several others. There was a boy got 
over the stern, whom I told to drop overboard and get 
on a bale of cotton. He said he could not swim. I 
then told him to tell some of those on deck to throw 
over a bale of cotton. There was one thrown over, 
which I jumped after, and gave the boy my place. I 
swam to it, and got on it. I remained on it until 
about half past 1 o'clock. About that time I drifted 
back to the steamboat, and got on board. There were 
then ten or twelve persons hanging to different parts 
of the boat. There were no ladies among them. I 
staid there until 3 o'clock, when the boat sunk. 

"We stood on the top of the hips which are put on 
the boat to keep her from rolling, and are made of 
solid timber, running fore and aft of the boat nearly 
her whole length, under the guards; but the guards 
at this time were burnt off. I stood there until she 
sunk. After she began to fill, the rest jumped off. I 
then swam to a piece of the guard, and, with four 
others, got on it. They all perished before daylight. 



CONFLAGRATION OF THE LEXINGTON. 207 

I remained on the piece of guard until 2 o'clock in the 
afternoon, when I was taken off by the sloop Mer- 
chant, Captain Meeker, and was taken into Southport, 
where I had the best care taken of me possible. My 
feet were badly frozen, and my ringers touched a little 
with the frost. 

" I have been in the Lexington ever since she com- 
menced burning coal. Knew her to be on fire, on the 
2d of January, on the main-deck, alongside the 
boiler. It originated from some sparks which flew up 
and caught the deck. It did not burn so much as to 
make a blaze on deck. It burnt a corner of a box 
which was there, but did not damage the goods that 
were in it. Never knew her on fire at any other time. 
When the door of the furnace is opened, the sparks 
from the coal do not come out, unless the damper is 
down, which we always keep open, and fastened open. 
I never before saw the casing of the steam-chimney on 
fire. I have seen the chimney red-hot, and seen a 
blue flame come from the top of it, probably as much 
as six feet. I do not consider a boat in any more 
danger with a blower than without one ; and we can 
make more steam with blowers than without. When 
we are carrying ten or twelve inches steam, take off 
the blower and the steam will run down so as to 
stop on her centre in a short time. I have seen the 
steam run down sixteen inches to an inch and a 
half in twenty minutes after the blower was taken 
off." 

Captain Joseph J. Comstock, the commander of the 
steamboat Massachusetts^ was appointed by the pro- 
prietors of the Lexington to proceed to the scene of 
the disaster, for the •purpose of recovering the bodies 
of the ill-fated passengers and crew, and to search for 
and to protect whatever baggage and property might 
drift ashore, or otherwise be discovered. His testi- 
mony does not vary materially from that of Captain 
Manchester, from whom, indeed, he had gathered the 



208 



STEAMBOAT DISASTERS. 



principal portion, — yet there are parts of it which 
Captain Manchester has asserted to be somewhat in- 
correct. As every thing connected with the subject of 
this melancholy occurrence cannot fail to possess 
interest, we will give the substance of his statement. 

The proprietors, having concluded to send a boat for 
the purpose just mentioned, the steamer Statesman, 
Captain Peck, was procured. An extra number of 
hands, and every requisite for the object in view was 
put on board. The whole was under the direction of 
Captain Comstock. They left New York on Thursday 
morning, and encountered great difficulty in getting 



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through the ice as far as Sand's Point, having spoken 
every vessel they met, for the purpose of learning, the 
position of the wreck. They first landed at Eaton's 
Neck, about forty-five miles from New York, where 
the only information they could obtain, was, that a 
vessel of some description had been burnt on Monday 
night, apparently about six or eight miles distant. 

Continuing their progress sixteen miles farther east, 
they again landed. They here discovered a body on 



CONFLAGRATION OF THE LEXINGTON. 209 

the beach, which, from a memorandum-book found 
upon it, proved to be that of Mr. Philo Upson. It was 
left in charge of a man, and conveyed to a barn at the 
light-house. All the information here procured, was, 
that a vessel, supposed to be a steamboat, was seen on 
fire on Monday night, at half-past 7 o'clock ; the last 
that was seen of her was between 2 and 3 o'clock in 
the morning. The people here knew of no effort 
having been made to assist those on board the burning 
boat. Night approaching, the Statesman left for a 
harbor, and ran into Bridgeport, — from which place 
Captain Comstock went by land to Southport, six 
miles distant, to see Captain Manchester, who, he 
heard, had escaped, and was in that place. 

Captain Comstock stated as follows, before the jury 
of inquest : — " I have known Captain Manchester for 
ten years. He was the pilot of the Lexington. He 
informed me that on his first hearing the alarm of fire, 
being then at the wheel on the forward extremity 
of the promenade-deck, he opened the wheel-house 
door and looked out. He saw no fire, nor any thing 
to indicate fire. He stepped out twelve or sixteen feet 
to a small scuttle in the deck, which looked directly 
down to the fire-room. All that he could see was a 
little fire ; but his view was almost entirely obscured 
by a dense smoke. He stepped immediately back to 
the wheel-house, and hauled the boat's head for the 
land of Long Island. While in the act of doing this, 
Captain Child came also to the wheel-house, and 
ordered him to haul the boat in for the land. He 
replied that he was doing so. The captain then laid 
hold of the wheel to assist him ; he came to him very 
precipitately, and seemed to be out of breath. 

" By this time, the fire and smoke came up from be- 
neath the promenade-deck into the wheel-house with 
such violence that they were compelled to relinquish 
their posts. He did not say what time elapsed between 
the alarm of fire and the time they left the wheel. 
From his manner of speaking, I should think but little 

18* 14 



210 STEAMBOAT DISASTERS. 

time could have elapsed. After this he saw nothing 
of the captain. He began immediately to clear away 
the life-boat, which was lashed on the larboard side 
of the promenade-deck, near the wheel-house. Having 
cleared the lashings away, he procured a rope, and, 
securing it to the bows of the boat, ordered it to be 
hauled taut, and made fast forward to keep it clear 
of the wheel. This was, as he supposed, done. He 
then hove his pea-jacket and coat into the boat, and 
threw her overboard. In all this he was assisted, but 
by whom he did not know. 

"The steamer was at this time underway, and the 
life-boat was taken under the wheel. He thinks that 
the rope parted, or that it had not been made fast upon 
the forecastle ; knew, when he threw the life-boat 
overboard, that the quarter-boats had been lowered 
away and lost. He was also of opinion that the life- 
boat,- having run under the wheel, was lost, unless to 
some one who had previously got overboard, who 
might possibly have got into her. When he hove her 
overboard, he saw that the fire had already taken 
hold of her, aft, — which I afterwards found to be the 
case, when I recovered her, as she was considerably 
scorched. He then went upon the forecastle, and 
found that, owing to the smoke and fire, he could not 
get under the promenade-deck. He supposed that, at 
this time, there were with him on the forecastle about 
twenty-five or thirty people. 

" Among the number, he said, were several of the 
firemen and waiters. He saw there was no hope ; 
that the boat must inevitably burn up, and that no 
means could possibly save her. He then advised to 
open the baggage-crates, throw out the baggage, and 
make a raft of the crates. This was partially done ; 
the baggage was thrown overboard, and the crates 
were entirely emptied and also thrown over ; they 
were run out of the forecastle gangway. The persons 
who were with him acted very coolly, and made 
efforts to fasten them together; but all their efforts 



CONFLAGRATION OF THE LEXINGTON. 211 

proved of no avail, as the ' crates came all sides up at 
once,' and nothing could be done with them. He 
said nothing of an- attempt to get at the steering ap- 
paratus aft ; that on the main-deck all communication 
aft was cut off by the fire ; and I think that he 
said the fire was also spreading upon the promenade- 
deck. 

" While endeavoring to lash the crates together, the 
forecastle-deck became very hot from the fire beneath, 
and some of the persons were employed in throwing 
water upon it to keep it cool. The only articles they 
could procure, with which to bail water, were some 
specie-boxes, which they had opened, and thrown the 
specie overboard. ~ His attempt to get under the 
promenade-deck from the forecastle was made to get 
at the buckets. I think that the buckets must have 
been used previous to Captain Child's coming to the 
wheel-house, as the buckets were in so convenient a 
position that any body could get hold of them. Seeing 
that the crates were of no use, they then knocked 
off the bulwarks, and endeavored to make of them a 
raft, — th*>, fire all the while driving them forward, 
inch b* inch ; in consequence of which they could 
not ma£e a sufficient raft to hold those who were 
there. 

" They were compelled to leave, and get over, until 
driven clear forward to the nighthead, — the flames 
then rushing from the forecastle in a column ten feet 
high. Captain Manchester then left the boat, and 
endeavored to get on whatever came in his way. He 
got upon some stage or other, — the same they had 
been forming into a raft. From this he got on a bale 
of cotton, on which there was already some one ; 
another person, jumping from the^boat on the same 
bale, knocked Captain Manchester's first companion off; 
he hauled this man back again, — there being then 
three persons on the bale. Captain Manchester stated 
that he left the bale, (he did not say at what time,) 
and got upon a piece of the guard. Beyond this he 



212 STEAMBOAT DISASTERS. 

gave me no particulars relative to the fate of the boat, 
or any one on board, — excepting that the wreck sank 
about 3 o'clock in the morning, by his watch, which 
he took out and looked at by the light of the moon. 
He had a piece of plank from the bulwark, which he 
used as a paddle by way of exercise. He remained 
upon the guard until toward noon the next day, when 
he was taken off by a sloop. On seeing the sloop, he 
put his handkerchief upon the piece of plank, and, 
raising it as a signal of distress, he clasped his arms 
around the plank, and remained in that situation. 
Before the sloop reached him, he fell over on his face, 
and became insensible, and so continued until after he 
was taken on board the sloop. 

" At 3 o'clock on Friday, A. M., I went on board 
the Statesman ; at day-break we started, and landed 
again at Old Field Point. It was at this time intensely 
cold, the thermometer varying from three to four 
degrees below zero. At the Point I now left six men 
to look out for luggage, as I had heard that a number 
of trunks and packages had come ashore in the neigh- 
borhood. During the night the body of a child about 
four years old had drifted ashore. 

" At 8 o'clock, I left in the steamer for the east- 
ward. Every part of the bank was carefully explored 
as we progressed, and traced the shore around the 
bay. I left persons ashore at different points, and 
inquired at all the houses for information relative to 
property saved from the wreck. After running seven 
miles east, I learned that three bodies had been found. 
I had them sent to Old Field Point. I here learned 
that, eighteen miles farther east, a man had got ashore 
alive. 

"I then proceeded to explore the beach the entire 
distance of the eighteen miles, until I came to the 
place. During this distance we found numerous por- 
tions of the wreck, among which was one piece, on 
which was the entire word 'Lexington,' in letters 
two feet long. 



CONFLAGRATION OF THE LEXINGTON. 213 

" We learned that David Crowley, the second mate, 
had come ashore at 5 o'clock on Wednesday night. 
He stated to the people here that he had been forty- 
eight hours upon the bale of cotton, and had crawled 
several rods upon the beach through the ice, and after 
getting ashore had walked three quarters of a mile 
to the nearest house. They said that his feet and legs 
were badly frozen. He was bare-headed, and in his 
shirt-sleeves, and supposed himself to be the only 
one saved from the wreck. I gave instructions to 
leave nothing undone to render his situation as com- 
fortable as possible, and to procure for him all medical 
or other aid that might be necessary. 

11 We then left on our return to Old Field Point, to 
take on board and bring to New York the bodies and 
property which were there ; having left information, 
at all the places where we had stopped, that a reward 
would be given for any bodies discovered ; and offer- 
ing also a reward of five hundred dollars for the 
detection of any persons committing depredations upon 
the bodies or property which might come ashore from 
the wreck. I was authorized to do this by the com- 
pany. I was compelled to relinquish the expedition 
on account of the severity of the weather, and of the 
sudden accumulation of ice, which rendered farther 
efforts useless. 

" On returning to the light-house, we took on board 
all the baggage which had been collected in my ab- 
sence, — five bodies, and the life-boat, which latter 
was found about two miles to the westward of the 
light-house, with the coats therein, as described by 
Captain Manchester. 

" I was informed by Mr. Samuel Yeaton, mate of 
the ship Helirium, that Captain William Terrell, of 
the sloop Improvement, of Brookhaven, stated to him 
that, at the time the fire broke out on board of the 
Lexington, he was sailing past, in the sound, on board 
of his sloop, — being at the time about six miles dis- 
tant. He gave as a reason for not going to the relief 



214 STEAMBOAT DISASTERS. 

of the Lexington, that, as she had life-boats on board, 
and being near the shore, the passengers might in all 
probability get ashore. Another reason given by him 
was, that if he delayed, he should lose his tide over 
the bar. He could not, probably, have reached the 
wreck in less than an hour; but might, doubtless, 
have saved many on board, all, indeed, except those 
lost in the quarter boats. "* 

In reviewing the preceding testimony, we perceive 
nothing to exonerate the company, who were the 
owners of the Lexington, from the universal censure 
attached to them. The Rev. S. K. Lothrop, of Bos- 
ton, thus justly and temperately remarked on this 
subject : — 

"The steamboats of Long Island Sound have, till 
recently, been in general managed with distinguished 
skill and care, and all necessary, nay, even a scrupu- 
lous attention paid to the safety and comfort of the 
passengers. Of late years, however, the growing 
competition, and the increased facilities for carrying 
freight, aiforded by the rail-roads to Providence and 
Stonington, have produced an unfavorable change, 
and taken from the boats the high character for safety 
and comfort that once attached to them. They are 
now, it is said, almost invariably overloaded, the 
passengers all but crowded out by freight, and their 
comfort and safety made apparently a secondary con- 
sideration. We have separate trains for freight on 
our rail-roads; why should we not have separate boats 
for freight on our waters 1 It is to be hoped that this 
melancholy catastrophe will direct public attention to 

* A card was published, soon after the above statement respecting Captain 
Terrell, signed by Mr. Charles Porter, of New York ; another, signed by- 
Henry Rogers, a passenger ; and a third, signed by the crew of the sloop 
Improvement, fully exculpating Captain Terrell from the odium which has 
been cast upon him on account of not repairing to the assistance of the vic- 
tims lost in the Lexington. At the time the light of the fire was seen, his 
vessel was ten or twelve miles distant, and the wind dead ahead ; and the 
light was seen by them but a few minutes, when it disappeared. 



CONFLAGRATION OF THE LEXINGTON. 215 

the subject, so that the reckless exposure of human 
life, which has marked some portions of the country, 
may never become one of the features of travelling in 
New England ; and proper means be taken, and efforts 
made, to provide against the recurrence of any similar 
disaster.' 5 

Even from the pulpit was heard the voice of con- 
demnation, rebuking the gross carelessness and cu- 
pidity that led to this disastrous event. The follow- 
ing is extracted from a discourse delivered by the 
same eloquent divine : — 

" But I confess, my friends, I hesitate not to say, 
that, after the first emotions of horror and pity excited 
by this event, the thought, the feeling that is upper- 
most in my own mind is indignation, — yes, I will use 
that word, though it be a strong one, — indignation at 
the gross recklessness or carelessness, which caused 
this destruction of human life, and produced this wide 
suffering, — and indignation, also, at the feeble and 
inefficient legislation that permits, and has for years 
permitted, these disasters to occur throughout our 
waters, without a just rebuke, or an adequate restraint 
in the laws. 

"I have read the statement published by. the agent 
of this ill-fated boat. I am willing to admit and 
believe that every word of that statement is true. I 
admit also that those, whose business it was to prevent 
by carefulness this accident, are themselves among 
the sufferers, and that the inference is, that they would 
not wantonly peril their own lives. They are dead. 
I would respect the memory of the dead ; but I must 
plead, and I feel constrained to plead, for the rights, 
the protection, the security of the living. Admitting 
all that has been or can be said in extenuation, the 
simple facts of the case, so far as known, especially 
when taken in connection with the circumstance that this 
self-same boat has unquestionably been on fire once, 
rumor says two or three times, within the last feio 
weeks, it seems to me that these facts are enough to 



216 STEAMBOAT DISASTERS. 

prove that a solemn duty, a fearful responsibility was 
neglected somewhere, by some one, enough to sustain 
the opinion, widely prevalent, that this awful disaster 
is to be attributed either to the selfishness and cu- 
pidity of the owners, who, greedy of gain, insisted 
upon overloading their boat with a dangerous and 
inflammable freight, or to the culpable carelessness, 
the utter inattention, of the master and officers, in not 
stowing that freight securely, in not watching over, 
and constantly, with an eagle eye, the condition and 
safety of the vessel to which hundreds had entrusted 
their lives. 

" The simple fact that such an accident, on such a 
night, occurred, is in itself presumptive evidence of 
carelessness or incompetence on the part of some one. 
At any rate, all the circumstances of the case ought 
to be thoroughly investigated, every thing that can 
be gathered, if any thing can be gathered from the 
survivers, touching the origin and early progress of 
the fire, ought to be made known, to satisfy the 
public curiosity, to relieve the public anxiety. If this 
investigation makes against the owners or managers, 
the truth ought not to be winked out of sight. It 
ought not to be hushed up, and kept back, and passed 
over. It is a misplaced charity to do it. We are 
false to our own interests and safety, to the interest 
and safety of all, in doing it. It ought to be spoken 
out, to be urged and insisted upon, boldly and plainly. 
It ought to be proclaimed, trumpet- tongued, throughout 
the length and breadth of the land, till it reaches the 
halls of Congress, calls off the members from their 
petty party animosities, their disgraceful personal 
contentions, and wakes up the government from its 
inertness, its epicurean repose, — a repose of apparent 
indifference to those whose safety it ought to guard, 
whose lives it ought to protect, — till it causes the 
supreme power of the land to legislate wisely and 
efficiently for one of the most important interests of 
the people, and to do, not something, but every 



CONFLAGRATION OF THE LEXINGTON. 217 

thing requisite, to check an evil that cries aloud for 
redress. 

"The destruction of human life in the United 
States, during the last ten years, by accidents and 
disasters in the public conveyances, is, I had almost 
said, beyond computation. It is utterly unparalleled 
in the history of the world. It confirms what all 
foreigners and travellers assert, that there is no coun- 
try upon earth where the proprietors, managers, and 
conductors of these public conveyances are so little 
responsible, so slightly amenable to the law, so far 
beyond the reach of public rebuke or public punish- 
ment; and the fearful catastrophe of the Lexington, 
as well as many others that might be collected from 
the history of the past year, are sufficient evidence 
that the late act of Congress, as was anticipated, has 
proved utterly inadequate and inefficient, and that 
something more strong, peremptory, and binding, is 
necessary, to protect the amount of life and property 
daily and hourly exposed upon our highways and our 
waters. 

"I call upon you, therefore, as merchants, who 
have large interests at stake in this matter; I call 
upon you, as men and citizens who cannot behold 
with indifference the sufferings of your fellow-men, to 
let your influence be felt, let your voice be heard in 
this thing, let it go forth to swell the power of that 
great sovereign, Public Opinion, till it demand and 
insist upon enactments that shall meet the necessities 
of the case." 

The horrors of that dreadful night will remain 
untold till the sea gives up her dead. We can only 
approach them in imagination. The facts which have 
reached us are invested with a tragic interest, sur- 
passing the creations of fiction. On the bereaved ones 
left behind falls the weight of sorrow, and for them 
are kindled our strongest sympathies ; not for the lost, 
— they are at rest. There was the husband of a 

19 



218 STEAMBOAT DISASTERS. 

devoted wife, and the father of seven daughters, all in 
early childhood ; there was the widow of Mr. H. A. 
Winslow, in company with the aged father and the 
brother, returning with the corpse of her husband to 
Providence ; there was the young bride, Mrs. Mary 
Russell, of Stonington, who had been wedded but the 
day previous; the hardy mariners, Captain E. J. 
Kimball and Captain Benjamin Foster, who had but 
just returned from foreign climes, after an absence of 
several years, and were on their way to visit their 
cherished homes, their wives and children. There 
were mothers, to whom their offspring clung for safety 
with all the confidence and hope of childhood, as if 
danger itself would turn aside from the protecting 
arms of maternal affection. The learned divine, the 
merchant, the mariner, the man of wit, — their names 
are all recorded, but where are they ! Their graves 
are unmarked, and the only dirge above them is the 
wailing of the ocean blast. 

The following reflections on the terrible loss sus- 
tained by bereaved relatives and the community at 
large, by the awful conflagration of the Lexington, 
will be found of interest to every reader : — 

No one has a right to be indifferent and unconcerned 
because the disaster has not come home to him. Let 
such remember that there is danger, and that among 
the next victims may be reckoned his own father, 
brother, sister, or child. We know not when our 
sensibilities, or those of the community, have been so 
awakened by a steamboat disaster. We believe no 
considerable accident has ever occurred before, since 
steamers commenced running on Long Island Sound, 
and we had come to consider the travelling upon that 
route so perfectly safe, that when we were aroused by 
the astounding intelligence that, in one night, more 
than one hundred fellow-beings had been hurried into 
eternity by a casualty upon that very route, we were 
filled with amazement and sorrow. 

A fire on the water is always terrific. The ribs of 



CONFLAGRATION OF THE LEXINGTON. 219 

oak will stand against the roaring winds and dashing 
waters, and the hardy mariner can sleep soundly amid 
the storms of heaven. The storm is the season, not 
of great danger,, ordinarily, but of great exertion, and 
of the exercise of the consummate skill of seamanship, 
and, having passed it safely, it is remembered rather 
as an exploit than a peril. 

Not so with a fire at sea. No securing of hatches, 
clearing of decks, lashing of boats, or double reefing 
of sails, can prepare for a fire. Strong cables and 
massive anchors are of no use; for the most terrible of 
elements, when uncontrolled, has broken loose from 
the power which governed it, and has asserted its 
supremacy in the work of death. 

Let the reader fancy himself looking down upon 
the Lexington, as she wheels away from the pier at 
New York, and gallantly threads her way up the 
East River, and through the tortuous channel of Hurl 
Gate. The Sound opens before her as the last gray 
of the twilight is fading over the waters, and the chill 
night wind, penetrating every nook on deck, drives all 
to the cabins. Let us look in upon them. The 
passions and purposes of the human bosom are at 
work, and even in this thoroughfare we may read 
something of human character. 

Gathered in groups, here and there, are the mer- 
chants who chance to meet acquaintances, reviewing 
the condition of monetary and mercantile affairs, and 
gathering from mutual hints the elements of future 
commercial enterprise. 

At the tables are seated several parties of card- 
players, spending the energies of deathless minds in 
the efforts to use skilfully certain pieces of figured 
paste-board; and, ever and anon, some triumphant 
exclamation tells the crowd, which has gathered 
around, that a crisis in the game has passed, and 
victory has decided upon her favorites. 

In a more social attitude, around the stoves, are 
several old sea-captains, who have been long absent, 



220 STEAMBOAT DISASTERS. 

and are now returning to their tenderly-remembered 
firesides, and to meet the affections of the delighted 
group who await their coming. You may see their 
weather-beaten faces lighted up with smiles as they 
talk of their past adventures, and remember that, 
having passed their perils, they are almost home. If 
any man is worthy of a warm greeting, when he turns 
his footsteps homeward, it is a magnanimous and 
upright seaman. 

Yonder is a scholar, pacing up and down in deep 
abstraction ; and, farther on, a company apparently 
bound in the bonds of some common sorrow, and only 
now and then uttering some word of condolence, and 
sadly thinking of their mutual sorrows. 

A merry and facetious band are amusing themselves 
by calling forth and listening to the lively sallies and 
witty repartees of a much admired comedian. 

In another apartment may be seen the widow in her 
weeds, sadly reflecting that he, who often had passed 
the same route with her in health and hope, was 
now a corpse on board, borne toward his last 
resting-place. There are also mothers who have 
called their children around them, and are watching 
them with all a mother's anxiety and a mother's 
hope. 

On deck, busy in the duties of their charge, or 
lounging wearily around the engines, are to be seen 
the hands of the boat, listless as ever, thoughtless 
alike of the future and the present. 

A world in miniature is here. The hopes and fears, 
the love and hate, the ambition and despair, the mirth 
and sorrow, of the millions of our race, have their 
representatives here. An hour has passed. Some 
are preparing for a night's repose, and others are 
entering with more interest into the amusements of 
the evening. 

But hark ! what cry is there from the deck, which 
starts every passenger to his feet, and hurries up the 
gangway all who are near it? It is " Fire! Fire !" 



CONFLAGRATION OP THE LEXINGTON. 221 

"The boat is on fire," is echoed from every lip, and 
the whole company rush confusedly from the cabin. 
"Where? where?" is asked by scores of voices. The 
vociferousness of the question, and the fierceness of 
the struggle, prevent the answer being given. 

The boat is headed for the shore. The fitful bursts 
of smoke, and the growing flames denote that she is 
doomed. A boat is thrown over, and is instantly 
loaded ; but the steamer, in her watery path, plays 
the tempest's part, and the frail boat is engulphed in 
the waves which she heaves from her quivering sides ! 
Another shares the same fate. The life-boat, the 
last resort, is let down, but is caught in the wheel 
and lost. ! 

At last, as the affrighted company begin to hope 
they may reach the shore, a crash is heard, and all is 
still ! The wheels cease to move, and the hulk sways 
heavily around amid the roaring flames. Now comes 
the scene of terror ! Listen to the shrieks which 
pierce the very heavens ; the horrid oaths of some in 
their feverish agony, and the plaintive exclamations 
of others who think of the home and the friends they 
can never see again; while, now and then, at inter- 
vals, may be heard, as on board the fated Kent, or 
tl^ wrecked Home, the solemn prayer, commending 
the soul of the supplicator to God, and even, if the ear 
mistakes not, the song of triumph like that sung by 
an apostle in the dungeon of Nero. 

The flames rush on, licking up the water which 
continues to be thrown as if in mockery. One after 
another has fled to the remotest part of the boat, that 
he may preserve life a little longer ; or has crawled 
over, and is clinging to the guard-braces; while, over- 
head, the fire crackles and hisses, triumphing in their 
subjugation. Some have thrown over bales of cotton, 
or other articles of freight, and are floating upon 
them ; while others, maddened by the intolerable heat, 
which is every moment growing more and more 
terrible, have cast themselves into the sea, where 

19*= 



222 STEAMBOAT DISASTERS. 

they are struggling with the frenzy of desper- 
ation. - 

Can a moment of more horrible, agonizing suspense 
be imagined 1 See the mother kneeling on the deck 
with her children, and calmly commending them to 
Heaven ! 

But, amid this raging destruction, the Christian 
stands, as the sun among the flying clouds of heaven, 
calm and serene ; one moment lost in the confusion, 
the next emerging from it to utter words of comfort, 
or to raise a prayer to God for the pardon of the guilty 
and horror-stricken. Moment of terror ! It chills 
the blood to think of it ! But that moment passes. 
The burnt mass begins to settle. Each end of the 
boat sways for a moment in the yielding waters, and 
the eddying of the troubled waves tells that the Lex- 
ington, with her unfortunate passengers and crew, 
rests where the sea sings forever the dirge of the 
lost ! 

Among other instances worthy of record, as con- 
nected with the fate of this boat, we give the following, 
as exemplifying the undying strength of a mother's 
love: — "Around the body of a child was found the 
veil of a lady, partly burnt. In this touching circum* 
stance we find the last act of that passion which 
ceases only with life, — a mother's love. Ceases, did 
we say ? Never ! It is of heaven, heavenly, — allied 
to the essence of deity, and co-eternal with the soul, 
which never dies. The ages of terror that passed in 
the few hours antecedent to the deaths of the sufferers, 
are more painfully described in this little evidence of 
a mother's care for her child, than in volumes of 
description. We can read in it her retreat to the last 
corner of a plank, upon the wreck, which would yip.ld 
a support to the horror-stricken passengers, at the 
greatest distance from the devouring fire ; we can see 
the child's face buried in the bosom which had 
yielded a sufficient shelter against all its apprehen- 



CONFLAGRATION OF THE LEXINGTON. 223 

sions of danger previous to that awful night. The 
terrific screams of the weak, and the more violent 
despair of those who were cast down from fancied 
strength to conscious impotence, the confusion of the 
appalling scene, and the certainty of danger from 
which there was no escape, — apparent even to an 
infant, — would force its face, in wild affright, from its 
temporary asylum. 

"It was then, as she clasped her terrified child to 
her breast, amid the horrors and distracting circum- 
stances of that moment, that, despite of every thing 
which might draw it away, her heart was centered 
upon her child. It was then that she interposed the 
feeble barrier of a gauze veil between its face and the 
flames. Had a feather, floating in the air, passed her, 
it would not have escaped her attention, and she 
would have clutched it, in the fulness of a mother's 
hope, to have placed it between death and her infant. 
For herself she had not a thought. But both are now 
gone ; and He, who saw their last moments, and their 
temporary separation in death, sees them again united. 
While God lives, their friends mourn not as those 
without hope.'' 

We have received a few brief notices of some of the 
victims of the conflagration of the Lexington. We 
give them to the reader, as being of peculiar interest, 
and as showing the high character and standing of 
many of those who perished by that awful event. 

Dr. Charles Pollen was born at Romrod, in Hesse 
Darmstadt, in the year 1796. Previous to the year 
1823, he was a professor of civil law in the University 
of Basle, in Switzerland. He taught his science with 
a spirit of freedom worthy of the earlier days of the 
little republic in which he lived. His animadversions 
on the subject of government and law became dis- 
pleasing to Austria, a power whose iron and relentless 
despotism is felt far beyond the limits of her territory. 



224 STEAMBOAT DISASTERS. 

A formal demand was made on the authorities of 
Basle, that he should be delivered up to Austria, to 
answer for the freedom with which he had spoken of 
absolute governments. The question was debated, 
and the demand refused; but, afterwards, at the 
pressing instances of the Austrian government, and 
through fear of provoking the vengeance of a power 
which they were too feeble to resist, the authorities of 
Basle instituted a preliminary process against Pro- 
fessor Follen, in consequence of which he left Switzer- 
land. He first went to France, where he was kindly 
received by Lafayette, who was then just coming 
out to America, and who offered to bring him out with 
him and introduce him. This proposal he modestly 
declined, although it was his intention to make the 
United States his place of refuge. In the autumn of 
1824, after Lafayette's return to France, Dr. Follen 
came out to America. He was soon afterwards em- 
ployed as a professor of German Literature in Harvard 
College, where his kindness of manners and varied 
knowledge made him extremely popular with the 
students. He subsequently embraced the profession 
of divinity, and, at the time of his death, resided in 
Lexington, Massachusetts, where he had charge of a 
religious society. 

Mrs. Russell Jarvis was the wife of Russell Jarvis, 
Esq., of New York, and the only surviving daughter 
of Thomas Cordis, Esq., of Boston. She was cousin 
of the wife of General Towson, of the U. S. Army, 
and of H. K. Oliver, Esq., of Boston. When the 
flames of the boat drove Mrs. Jarvis into the waves, 
she sprang overboard with one child, and succeeded 
in reaching a cotton-bale. The other child quickly 
followed, and, in attempting to secure her, the dis- 
tracted mother lost her hold, and the three sank in 
death together. Mrs. Jarvis was a lady of incom- 
parable excellence, one of those whom all delight to 
love. Heaven, with lavish hand, had adorned her 
with the richest endowments of mind, disposition, and 



CONFLAGRATION OF THE LEXINGTON. 225 

person. Her face was one of uncommon beauty, and 
one could read, in its gentle expression, the entire 
loveliness of the mild spirit that dwelt within. Those 
who knew her well, possess the full confidence,, that, 
as her exhausted frame sank beneath the closing 
waves, her spirit, with those of the innocents who 
perished in her embrace, ascended, spotless and pure, 
to the presence of Him, who ordered this event for the 
wisest purposes. 

Mrs. Jar vis had the greatest aversion to this par- 
ticular steamboat. But she yielded her objections, as 
she was attended by two of her relatives. Strange 
and mysterious providence, that her first venturing 
where she had the most fear f should be the first step 
to her watery grave ! 

Mr. James G. Brown was a young man, with 
qualities of person and of heart fitted to attract friend- 
ship and respect. The impression of his manly ac- 
complishments and pure purposes, rendered him an 
object of high esteem to the large circle of his ac- 
quaintance. He had just commenced his career as a 
man of business; and his energetic and honorable 
character, added to the uncommon advantages with 
which his perseverance and industry had surrounded 
him, were giving fair promise of success and eminence 
in his worldly pursuits. In the spring-time of his 
hopes, amid many bright visions of happiness and 
usefulness, while rejoicing in his escape from perils by 
land and sea, and just hastening to the*home of his 
affection, and the welcome of his expecting friends, 
he was met at the threshold by the great enemy. 

To the bereaved family of which he was the orna- 
ment and pride, this fresh affliction came in a train of 
disasters, itself the most terrible of all. Within the 
few previous months, two other cherished ones had 
been torn from their hitherto unbroken circle, one by 
sudden accident, and one by lingering disease. 

Under this new loss, no language could express 
the depth of their anguish. " Their strong shaft is 
15 



226 STEAMBOAT DISASTERS. 

broken, and their beautiful rod." Yet precious to 
them beyond measure are the last moments of their 
departed one. In a letter to a dear friend, written just 
before he went on board of the Lexington, he said, 
"I leave to-night, trusting to the watchful care of my 
Covenant Shepherd." They cannot doubt that the 
Shepherd had his eye upon their beloved in the 
terrors of that dark, cold night. 

Robert Blake, Esq., of Wrentham, Mass., was one 
in whose death the public, the church of Christ, and 
his bereaved family, have sustained a loss of no 
ordinary kind. The confidence reposed in his ability, 
discretion and judgment, by those who were associ- 
ated with him in the affairs of life ; and his uniform 
adherence to the principles of truth and justice, was 
known throughout the community. He was a kind 
and tender husband, and a faithful and affectionate 
father. The various benevolent enterprises of the age 
found in him a friend and helper. Though the calls 
on his charity were numerous, he was ever a cheerful 
and bountiful giver ; and often in ways so private, that 
it may truly be said of him, that "his right hand 
knew not what his left hand did." Though his 
bereaved friends were not permitted to hear his part- 
ing counsels, nor soothe his dying moments, we doubt 
not the Savior was with him as he passed through 
the dark valley of death, and that he is now with the 
redeemed on Mount Zion. 

Captain Ichabod D. Carver, of Plymouth, Mass., 
was on his return from a foreign voyage, and, after a 
passage so long as to excite serious apprehensions for 
his safety, had at length reached his port. By his 
request, every preparation had been made to consum- 
mate his marriage immediately on his arrival home. 
He was young and enterprising, and one of our most 
deserving sea-captains. His integrity and entire devo- 
tion to his business endeared him to his employers, 
and made them his strong and confiding friends. His 
loss will long be felt by all who knew him, and has 



CONFLAGRATION OF THE LEXINGTON. 227 

left a void which will often remind them of the af- 
flicting and disastrous event by which he was taken 
away. 

Mr. J. B. Fell, Jr., of Salem, was one of the most 
promising and respectable young men in that town. 
His character was estimable, and blended with in- 
telligence and enterprise that would have given him 
the highest standing in the mercantile profession, to 
which he was bred. 

Captain Benjamin Fosler, of Providence, was on 
his return from India, after a voyage of three years, 
and probably had on board with him a large amount 
of property. His wife and children had been anxiously 
awaiting his arrival for several months, and the 
dreadful news that reached them of his loss in the 
Lexington, was the first intelligence they received 
of him. 

Mr. C. R. Phelps was a gentleman of great enter- 
prise, well known, and highly esteemed. He had 
acquired a large fortune at New Orleans, some years 
since, and owned a beautiful mansion at Stonington, 
celebrated for its taste and arrangement. But the sad 
event which bereaved the family of its head, left it a 
house of mourning. 

We now conclude the melancholy account of the 
loss of the Lexington, by giving the following extract 
from a discourse delivered by the Rev. S. K. Lothrop, 
of Boston, soon after the news arrived of that fatal 
event : — 

" A few days pass, and our thoughts are yet wan- 
dering to that far-off spot on the lonely ocean where 

1 The death angel flapped his broad wing o'er the wave,' 

when they are suddenly called back, and called home, 
by a calamity which appals and almost benumbs sen- 
sation by its fearful nature, and a magnitude not yet 
ascertained in its full extent. I need not name it. I 
need not describe it. It cannot be described. The 



228 STEAMBOAT DISASTERS. 

circumstances attending it are few, but terrible. Im- 
agination can hardly paint a scene, in its immediate 
aspect, or its ultimate and swiftly approaching issues, 
more full of horrors, to distract the calmest mind, to 
unnerve the stoutest heart, — 'horrors which must 
have appeared to start up from the wild caverns of the 
deep itself No warning was given to prepare the 
thoughts, no omen of peril had been noticed. The 
tempest and the whirlwind give signals of their ap- 
proach, but no signal is here to tell of coming danger. 
In an instant, almost, that unfortunate company found 
themselves assailed by an enemy against which they 
could make no defence, and from which they soon 
lost all means of escape. And four only have escaped, 
alone to tell the tale, to give the brief outline of the 
beginning of that scene of terror and dismay. How 
it ended, and the details of its progress, — what were 
the movements, the efforts, the sufferings of the 
multitudes gathered upon that burning deck, — none 
can tell. 

" The physical suffering endured in those brief 
hours must have been severe, but it sinks into insig- 
nificance before the mental suffering of a situation so 
bereft of hope. To be shipwrecked is terrible. To 
be driven by the fierce hurricane upon an iron, rock- 
bound coast, is fearful and appalling. But in ship- 
wreck there is room for action, and consequently for 
hope. There is something to be done, some effort to 
be made ; a steady eye, a calm, self-possessed mind, 
a courageous heart, may avail something towards 
escape, and if death come at last, it comes only after 
noble efforts and struggles. To die in battle is terri- 
ble. Few scenes of this world's suffering and wo 
can equal the battle field, — that scene of dreadful and 
indiscriminate slaughter, where multitudes are assem- 
bled that death may mow with greater facility, that 
the mighty and renowned, the young, the healthy, and 
the vigorous, may perish in a moment, amid piercing 
groans, and frantic shouts, and bitter shrieks, and 



CONFLAGRATION OF THE LEXINGTON. 229 

the roar of the deadly thunder which strews around 
them companions in misery. But in the battle there 
is action, and to the very last there is hope, hope of 
success or escape. The mind is buoyed up and 
pressed onward to effort and endurance by this hope, 
and if at last death come, sudden and violent, there is, 
it may be, the consciousness of a noble duty nobly 
done, of life periled in a holy cause, and sacrificed, if 
sacrificed it must be, to freedom and truth. 

" But here, after the first few moments, there was 
no room for action, effort, or hope. In the wild con- 
fusion and dismay of the first outbreak of danger, the 
only means of escape had been utterly lost. And 
there they stood, the two companies, helpless and 
powerless, gathered on the bow and stern of that 
ill-fated boat, — the devouring fire raging to madness 
between them, throwing its lurid flames to heaven, 
and casting a terrific brightness upon the yawning 
waves that stood ready to engulf them. There was 
no longer any help in man. None could hope to live 
for an hour in that wild, wintry sea. They had 
nothing to do but to wait, to suffer, and to die. If 
ever any situation required manhood, fortitude, and 
the power of religious faith, it must have been this. 
Let us trust, brethren, that these were not wanting. 
Let us trust that those brief hours were not all hours 
of pain, of grief, of unmitigated anguish. Let us hope 
that, while glad memories of the past thronged thick 
and fast upon their minds, and burning thoughts of 
home, of wife or husband, of children and kindred, no 
more to be seen on earth, tore with anguish their 
hearts, there also came in upon their souls, sweet and 
holy in its influences, that faith, mightier than any 
human affection, stronger than any mortal peril, 
which lifts the spirit to God, and gives it peace in 
death." 

In another passage from the same discourse he 
spoke thus eloquently : — 

" The moonlight of a desert solitude, the gloom of 

20 ' 



230 STEAMBOAT DISASTERS. 

evening or midnight in a ruined city, may carry the 
traveller's thoughts through years of bygone happi- 
ness ; but it is in his passage across the deep, in the 
hush and loneliness of the ocean, that the visions and 
bodings of his own spirit become palpable and real. 
This it is, that causes the misfortunes that happen in 
the heart of the seas to awaken in our breasts the 
deepest sympathy with the sufferers. Their complete, 
absolute separation from the rest of mankind, makes 
us feel for them as if they had been the inmates of our 
own dwellings. And if they have actually been 
known to us, if they have lived in our neighborhood, 
if our hands have ever exchanged with them the 
warm grasp of friendship and affection, if they have 
mingled in our social or domestic joys, Our hearts 
yearn in pity and tenderness as we think of their fate. 
No tomb shall plead to their remembrance. No 
human power can redeem their forms. The white 
foam of the waves was their winding-sheet, the winds 
of the ocean shall be. their eternal dirge." 




BURNING OF THE LEXINGTON. 

The steam is up, and the pistons play, — 

The bell has rung, — she's away, — she's away ! 

The streamers are flying, and, in her bold flight, 

She scuds o'er the waters like a thing of light ! 

The young and the aged, the gay and the grave, 

Are dancing together along o'er the wave ; 

The pastor, the punster, the matron, the maid, 

Throng around on the deck, or the high promenade, — 

They watch the great city, with curious eye, 

Till the last lofty dome has gone out from the sky ; 

Then, as the cold breezes rush on from the snow, 

They hurry from deck for a shelter below, 

Where they heed not the wind, nor the surges that foam, 

And taste of enjoyments " like home, sweet home." 

The tables are spread, well laden, and stored 
With as sweet a repast as an epicure's board ; 
They gather around, and partake with delight 
Of the savory cheer that is furnished to-night ; 
Then shoot off, in clusters, wherever they list, — 
Some loll on settees, and some sit down at whist, — 
Some talk upon politics, — some upon trade, — 
Some speak of the profits or losses they've made, — 
Some take up a paper, — some musingly sit, — 
Some laugh at a bright scintillation of wit, — 
And all seem as easy, and happy, and free, 
As if they were not on the treacherous sea ; 
Nor dream the dread king is so near in his flight, 
To hold a rich carnival among them to-night ; 
That a scene of deep sorrow and wo is at hand, 
That with horror and anguish shall fill all the land ! 

What means the loud tumult, — the heart-breaking cry, — 
The shrieks that uprise to the dark vaulted sky ? 



232 STEAMBOAT DISASTERS. 

Why tremble the weak, and why cower the strong ? 
Why rush they thus frenzied and madly along ? 
The boat is on fire ! and they see that their grave 
Is the red flashing fire, or the cold dashing wave ! 

" To the boats ! " To the boats distracted they crowd, — 

And find the dark wave is their funeral shroud ! 

" Lower the boats ! lower the boats ! " 'Tis done in a breath, 

Down they sink in the icy embraces of death ! 

Some struggle a moment and buffet the wave, — 

One shriek, — and they sink into one common grave ! 

But where may the brave, hardy mariners be, 
Who have breasted the dangers of ocean and sea? 
They left the endearments of friendship and home 
In far distant oceans and climates to roam ; 
Their dangers are past, and their hardships are o'er, 
And they look once again on their dear native shore ; 
On hope's merry pinions they joyously move, 
To throw their rich treasures to those that they love ; ' 
And a few fleeting hours on the wild dashing main, 
And they '11 clasp those they love at their fireside again. 
O, where are they now ! look down in the flood, — 
They struggle, — and who can now save them but God ! 
Hope braces each muscle, and arms them in might, — 
Sweet home, and its loved ones, are clear in their sight, — 
Hope flickers, — 0, horror ! it is quenched in the wave, — 
And despair lays them down in their cold icy grave ! 

The lover, — O, where is the lever to-night, 

Whose future was woven with wreaths of delight ! 

He saw the bride stand in her pure maiden charms, 

And clasped her in hope in his own guardian arms ; 

A few hours will pass, and he^ll leap to the shore, 

And meet her, and greet her, and leave her no more ! 

Ah ! there may ye see him, — look down from the prow, — 

He struggles — love buoys him — ! where is he now ? 

The waters close o'er him, — he moves with the dead, — 

And the cold briny wave is his own bridal bed ! 

The mourners, — the mourners ! O, tell me their doom, 
Who are carrying the dead to their own kindred tomb! 



CONFLAGRATION OF THE LEXINGTON. 233 

Keen anguish has bidden them shed the salt tear, 

As they bent with affection around their sad bier. 

O ! where have they hied them to sorrow and weep ? — 

They have gone to commingle their tears with the deep ! 

The tie, so late severed, was severed in vain, — 

For death has united more firmly again ! 

No changes can part them, — they lie in one bed, — 

And the same winding-sheet holds the quick and the dead ! 

O ! where is that spirit, who, in his brief day, 

Could bid the sad bosom be joyous and gay ! 

By whom the glad smile, on thousands, was lit 

By the play of his genius, and the sparks of his wit ! 

Can he charm the dread monarch his hand to stay, — 

Or the winds and the waves to cease their play ? 

Can he stop the red fire, as it sweeps along, 

By the magic of wit, or a pun, or a song? 

O, pardon, gay spirit ! the thoughts that oft start, 

And shoot a keen pang through my sorrowing heart, — 

They picture thee struggling undaunted for life, 

For thy sweet rosy children and grief-stricken wife, — 

And crying, while bravely ye buffet the tide, 

" 0, God ! if I ? m lost, be their shield and their guide ! " 

Ah, vainly he struggles ! the destroyer shall win, — 

And quench the bright spirit and genius of Finn ! 

And where is the shepherd, who loved to unlock 
The treasures of wisdom to nourish his flock ? 
Is the faith that he preaches, his pole-star and light, 
To guide and to cheer him on this awful night ? 
Does the sunlight of heaven, to the keen eye of faith, 
Gleam bright through the vale of the shadow of death 2 
Does he smile as he bends at the beck of the king, — 
And say, as he clasps him, 0, " where is thy sting?" 
Ah, yes ! for methinks, 'midst the horror, I see 
A friend who is throwing his arms over thee ; 
Who smiles, and whose smile brings the sunshine of day, 
And chases despair, with its terrors, away ! 
And, though the dark billows dash fiercely and roll, 
The sunlight of heaven awakes in the soul ; 
And, as the last tie that confined it is riven, 
He takes thy freed spirit and wings it for heaven ! 
20* 



234 STEAMBOAT DISASTERS. " 

O, where is that mother, to whom fondly clung ! 

Two beautiful beings, so lovely and young ! 

She was cradled and nursed in the lap of a home 

Where hardship and want might not venture to come ; 

And the winds were not suffered too rudely to blow 

On a form that was shielded in tenderness so ; 

And when the tie broke, that had bound her so long, 

For one more enchanting, enduring and strong, — 

The arms of affection encircled her there, 

And shielded and screened her from hardship and care. — 

Ah ! there stands she now, on the red fiery deck, — 

And now 'midst the surges she clings to the wreck, — 

She buffets the billows, that thunder and swell, 

And clings to the dear ones she loves so well ! 

" My children, my children ! " she shrieks in dismay, 

" O, sea ! have ye taken one darling away ? 

Eestore her, restore her, — alas ! is there none 

To bring a fond mother her beautiful one ? " 

O, death ! how remorseless and keen is the dart 

Thou hast planted to-night in that fond mother's heart ! 

Ye have taken her child, as a merciless king, 

And have cast it away as a poor, worthless thing. 

" O, save my lost darling! " she shrieked, and she pressed 

The dear one, more closely, she held at her breast; — 

" O, God ! must we perish ? is the funeral bier 

Of myself and my cherubs, my own cherubs, here ? 

My father, my father ! O, sigh not for me ! 

'T was sweet, when I died, I could think upon thee ; 

And, ah ! my loved husband, it gives me delight 

That thou know'st not the horrors that gird us to-night ! 

And when the sad tidings shall spread, as they will, 

Let fancy, with all her creations, be still, — 

Nor take up a pencil to sketch to your sight 

The horrors that gather around us to-night ! 

Farewell ! ah, my loved ones ! we '11 lie down together, 

Where troubles and trials depart, and forever ! 

Earth seemed to you lovely, and covered with bliss, — 

Hush, hush ! there 's a world more enchanting than this ! 

There are roses more lovely, — fields sweeter above, — 

We will hie and enjoy them, forever, my love ! " 



CONFLAGRATION OP THE LEXINGTON. 



235 



Ye living, — ah ! here is a picture for you 

More frightful than fancy can paint to your view : 

Rank, rank, — ah ! what is it ? let thought but portray 

This scene, and 'twill vanish like bubbles away ! 

And wealth, — ah ! the wealth of a Croesus would seem, 

With all its enchantments, a trifle, a dream ! 

The grades and distinctions, subsisting below, 

That raise, or depress us, — O, where are they now ! 

The noble, the ignoble, the coward, the brave, 

Are lying, all equally low, in the grave ! 

The highest, the proudest, the wealthiest, bow 

As low as the poorest, the lowliest, now ! 

O, happy ! thrice happy, is he in whose breast 
Sweet innocence lodges her soft downy nest, — 
Who weds not the pleasures, and splendor, and show, 
That spread their enchantments so gaudy below ; 
But, planting his holiest affections above, 
Reaps, even in hope, a rich harvest of love ; 
And thus, let the summons be sudden or slow, 
He ever stands ready and willing to go. 




CONFLAGRATION OF THE PHOENIX, 

On Lake Champlain, on the Night of September 5, 
1819 ; wherein, owing to the Coolness and Self- 
Possession of the Commander, not a Sonl was 
lost. 

The steamboat Phcenix left Burlington September 5, 
and had proceeded as far as Providence Island, about 
half way between Burlington and Plattsburgh, when, 
between 12 and 1 o'clock at night, the alarm of fire 
was given. There were two small boats attached to 
the Phcenix, which were immediately filled with pas- 
sengers; but the wind blowing violently from the 
north-west, they were not all enabled to embark, and 
some few of them were obliged to jump overboard. 

Captain Johnson Sherman, who was the regular 
commander of the Phcenix, was confined with a fever 
at Vergennes, and the boat at this time was com- 
manded by his son, Richard W. Sherman, a young 
gentleman, about twenty-two years of age ; but who, 
amid the confusion, danger, and difficulties attendant 
on this terrible disaster, displayed an energy and pres- 
ence of mind worthy of the highest praise. To this 
was it owing that not a person ivas lost on that fearful 
night. In that burning vessel, at the dead of night, 
and three miles from the nearest land, was the safety 
of every one cared for, and ultimately secured, by the 
promptness, energy, and decision of this young com- 
mander, — himself being the last to quit the blazing 
wreck. Mr. John Howard, steward of the boat, was 
also deserving of much credit for his coolness and con- 
fidence. It was stated that he and Captain Sherman 



CONFLAGRATION OF THE PHOSNIX. 237 

were saved by lashing themselves to articles thrown 
overboard, after the last boat, with its living freight, 
had left. 

A gentleman of Albany, in alluding to the destruc- 
tion of the Lexington by fire, in Long Island Sound, 
January, 1840, and in giving a contrast between the 
commanders of the Phoenix and Lexington, remarked 
thus: — "We need not go beyond the limits of our own 
state for a striking example of how much may be 
effected in such an emergency by decision and pres- 
ence of mind on the part of the captain of the boat. 
Several years ago. a disaster occurred on Lake Cham- 
plain, similar, in many respects, to the burning of the 
Lexington. One stormy night, as the steamboat 
Phoenix, with a fall load of passengers and freight, 
was ploughing her way through the waters of Cham- 
plain, a fire broke out at midnight, and soon raged 
with irresistible violence. 

"The passengers, roused by the alarm from their 
slumbers, and waking to a terrible sense of impend 
ing- destruction, rushed in crowds upon the deck, and 
attempted to seize the small boats. Here, however, 
they were met by the captain, who, having abandoned 
all hope of saving his boat, now thought only of 
saving his passengers, and stood by the gangway of 
his boat, with a pistol in each hand, determined to 
prevent any person from jumping into the boats be- 
fore they were properly lowered into the water, and 
prepared to receive their ljving freight. With the 
utmost coolness a*nd presence of mind he superin- 
tended the necessary preparations, and, in a few min- 
utes, the boats were lowered away, and the passen- 
gers received safely on board. They then shoved 
off, and pulled through the darkness for the distant 
shore. As soon as this was reached, and the passen- 
gers landed, the boats returned to the steamboat and 
took off the crew, and, as the captain supposed, every 
living soul except himself. 

" But, shortly after the boats had left the second 



238 STEAMBOAT DISASTERS. 

time, he discovered, under a settee, the chambermaid 
of the Phoenix, who, in her fright and confusion, had 
lost all consciousness. Lashing her to the plank 
which he had prepared for his own escape, this gallant 
captain launched her toward the shore ; and was thus 
left alone with his vessel, now one burning pile. 
Having satisfied himself that no living being remained 
on board his boat, and with the proud consciousness 
that he had saved every life entrusted to his care, he 
sprung from the burning wreck, as it was about to 
sink beneath the waters, and, by the means of a set- 
tee, reached the shore in safety. 

" This is no exaggerated story. It is the simple 
narrative of one of the most heroic acts on record. 
We have only to add, that the captain who so faith- 
fully and fearlessly discharged his duty on this trying 
occasion, is still in command of a noble boat on Lake 
Champlain, and is known to every traveller as Cap- 
tain Sherman, of the steamboat Burlington." 




CONFLAGRATION OF THE STEAMER ERIE, 

On Lake Erie, while on her Passage from Buffalo 
to Chicago, August 9, 1841; by which Awful 
Calamity nearly Two Hundred Persons per- 
ished, 

The steamer Erie, Captain T. J. Titus, left Buffalo 
for Chicago on the afternoon of August 9, having on 
board upwards of two hundred passengers. The 
crew, including the officers and others attached to 
the boat, numbered about thirty, — making a total of 
nearly two hundred and forty souls. The boat left the 
dock about 4 o'clock in the afternoon, and although 
the wind was blowing fresh, and a rough sea pre- 
vailed at the time, every thing otherwise promised a 
pleasant and prosperous passage. The vessel pro- 
ceeded gallantly on her way until about 8 o'clock in 
the evening, — at which time she was off Silver Creek, 
and nearly eight miles from shore, — when a slight ex- 
plosion was heard, and immediately, almost instan- 
taneously, it seemed, the whole vessel was wrapped in 
flames. 

Captain Titus, who was on the upper deck at the 
time, rushed to the ladies' cabin to obtain the life- 
preservers, of which there Avere nearly a hundred on 
board ; but so rapid had been the progress of the 
flames, that he found it impossible to enter the cabin. 

He immediately returned to the upper deck, having 
previously given orders to the engineer to stop the 
engine — the wind and the headway of the boat increas- 



240 STEAMBOAT DISASTERS. 

ing the fierceness of the flames, and driving them aft. 
The engineer replied, that, in consequence of the 
flames, he could not reach the engine. The steersman 
was instantly directed to put the helm hard-a-star- 
board. The boat swung slowly round, heading to the 
shore, and the small boats, of which there were three 
on board, were then ordered to be lowered. Two of 
them were lowered, but, in consequence of the heavy 
sea and the headway of the vessel, they both swamp- 
ed as soon as they touched the water. 

We will not attempt to describe the awful and ap- 
palling condition of the passengers. Some were fran- 
tic with fear and horror, others plunged madly into 
the water, while others seized upon any thing buoy- 
ant upon which they could lay their hands. The 
remaining small boat had been lowered. It was 
alongside the wheel, with three or four persons in it, 
when the captain jumped in, and the boat immedi- 
ately dropped astern, filled with water. A lady 
floated by with a life-preserver on. She cried for 
help. There was no safety in the boat, and the cap- 
tain threw her the only oar, which she caught, and 
was subsequently saved. It was Mrs. Lynde, of Mil- 
waukee, and she was the only female who was res- 
cued. 

In this condition, — the steamer a mass of fierce fire, 
and the passengers and crew endeavoring to save their 
lives by swimming, or by supporting themselves on 
whatever they could reach,— they were found by the 
steamboat De Witt Clinton, at about 10 o'clock, P. M. 
The Clinton left Buffalo in the morning, but in conse- 
quence of the wind had put into Dunkirk. She laid 
there till nearly sunset, at which time she ran out, and 
had proceeded as far as Barcelona, when, just at twi- 
light, the fire of the Erie was discovered some twenty 
miles astern. The Clinton immediately put about, 
and succeeded in reaching the burning wreck, as above 
stated. 

It was a fearful sight. All the upper works of the 



CONFLAGRATION OF THE ERIE. 241 

Erie had burnt away. The engine was standing, but 
the hull was a mass of dull, red flame. The passen- 
gers and crew were floating around, screaming in 
their agony, and shrieking for help ; the boats of the 
Clinton were instantly lowered and manned, and 
every person that could be seen or heard, was picked 
up, and all possible relief afforded. The Lady, a 
little steamboat lying at Dunkirk, went out of that 
harbor as soon as possible after the discovery of the 
fire, and arrived shortly after the Clinton. 

By 1 o'clock in the morning, all was still except 
the dead crackling of the fire. Not a solitary individ- 
ual could be seen or heard on the wild waste of wa- 
ters. A line was then made fast to the remains of the 
Erie's rudder, and an effort made to tow the hulk 
ashore. It was towed within about four miles of land, 
when it sunk in eleven fathoms water. By this time 
it was daylight. The lines were then cast off, and 
the Clinton headed for Buffalo, whkh she reached 
about 6 o'clock, having on board twenty-seven human 
beings whom she had rescued from death by fire or 
water. The little steamer Lady had also picked up 
two, thus making but twenty-nine who were saved 
of the entire number on board. 

Origin of the Fire. — Among the passengers on 
board were several painters, who were on their way 
to Erie to paint the steamboat Madison. They had 
with them demijohns filled with spirits of turpentine 
and varnish, which, unknown to Captain Titus^ were 
placed on the boiler-deck, directly over the boilers. 
One of the firemen who was saved, says he had occa- 
sion to go on the deck, and seeing the demijohns, 
removed them. They were replaced ; by whom is not 
known. Immediately previous to the bursting forth 
of the flames, a slight explosion was heard. The 
demijohns had probably burst with the heat, and 
their inflammable contents, taking fire instantly, com- 
municated to every part of the boat, which, having 

21 16 



242 STEAMBOAT DISASTERS. 

been freshly varnished, caught as if it had been gun- 
powder. 

. Not a paper nor an article of any kind was saved. 
Of course it is impossible to give a complete list of 
those on board. Of cabin passengers there were be- 
tween thirty and forty, of whom ten or twelve were 
ladies. In the steerage were about one hundred and 
forty passengers, nearly all of whom were Swiss and 
German emigrants. They were mostly in families, 
with the usual proportion of men, women and chil- 
dren. 

It is a singular, coincidence that the Erie was burnt 
at the same place where the Washington was de- 
stroyed in June, 1838. Captain Brown, who com- 
manded the Washington at that time, happened to be 
on board the Clinton, and was very active in saving 
the survivers of the Erie. 

We annex a list of those who were lost, as far we 
have been able 4o obtain their names : — 
Philip Barber, Buffalo. J. C. Pool, New York. 

Roome Button, Fort Plain. Mrs. Robinson, Ballston Spa. 
W. M. Camp, Harrisburg. Miss Robinson, Ballston Spa. 
E. S. Cobb, Ann Harbor. ' W. Sackett, Michigan. 
Mrs. Dow. - A. Sears, Buffalo.' 

Mr. Everts, Buffalo. D. S. Sloan, Geneva. 

P. Finney, -Buffalo. Mrs. W. H. Smith, and child, 

Orin Greene, Rushville. Schenectady. 

Wm. Griffin, Mississippi. Mrs. Spencer, and two chil- 

li. Gels ton, Erie, (clerk.) dren. 

Mr. Joles, (steward.) F. Stow, Canada. 

Miss King, Ballston Spa. Otto Torp, New York. 

E. J. Lynde, Milwaukie. W. Thomas, Buffalo. 

W. S. Lynde, Homer, N. Y. Willet Weeks, Brooklyn. 
C. S. Mather, Mt. Clemens. H. Weaver, Buffalo. 
Miss A. Miller, Buffalo. Mrs. G. Williams, Chicago. 

Mr. Moore, and two children, J. D. Woodward, New York. 
Yates County. 

Nearly one hundred and fifty of the passengers were 
Swiss and German emigrants, who were on their way 



CONFLAGRATION OP THE ERIE. 



243 



west, for the purpose of settling. We give the names 
of the heads of families, with the number in each :— 

George Christian, 

C. Deitherick, 

Christian Durler, 

R. Filling, 

John Flang, 

L. Gilling, 

J. Garghum, 

C. Kellerman, 

Peter King, 

T. Korten, 

Mr. Litchhold, 

C. Mintch, 

J. Mulliman, 

George Neigold, 

This list comprises the names of eighty-seven per- 
sons ; but, as it is customary to pass children at half 
price, the whole number of persons must have reached 
upwards of one hundred. There were but four per- 
sons of the whole who were saved, including Mr. 
Christian Durler, and three others, names unknown. 

We annex also the names of those who were saved, 
including those belonging to the boat: — 



5 


John Netzell, 


1 


2 


J. Newminger, 


1 


1 


Mr. Obins, 


1 


2 r" 


C. Palmer, 


5 


H 


G. Reittinger, 


3 


3 


M. Reibold, 


3 


5h 


. S. Schapler, 


5i 


1 


G. Steinman, 


2 


2 


Peter Schmidt, 


1 


1 


Peter Schendler, 


5 


H 


C. Wilbur, 


6 


3 


George Zuggler, 


6 


3 


Martin Zulgen, 


2 


n 







Master Bebee, Cleveland. 
Edgar Clemens, (1st engin'r.) 
C. Durler, Holmes Co., Ohio. 
H.ForresterJIarbor Creek,Pa. 
Hiram De Graffe. 
C Hogg. 

W. Hughes, (2d mate.) 
J. H. St. John. 



Mr. Parmelee, (bar-keeper.) 

T. Quinlin, Middlefield, Ms 

Mrs. Rice, Buffalo. 

T. Robinson, (barber, colored.") 

Luther B. Searls, (fireman.) 

Theodore Sears, (painter.) 

T. J. Tann, Pittsford, N. Y. 

Captain T. J. Titus. 

W. Wadsworth, (of the band.) 

A. 0. Wilkinson, East Euclid. 



E. Johnson, (cook, colored.) 

James Loverty, (wheelman.) 

Mrs. C. J. Lynde, Milwaukie. Giles Williams, Chicago. 

Dennis McBride, (1st mate.) John Winchell, Buffalo, 

Jerome McBride, (wheelman.) 

and' three German passengers, who, together with 

several of the above, were badly burned previous to 

leaving the boat. 



244 STEAMBOAT DISASTERS. 

We extract the following particulars relative to this 
awful disaster, from the letter of a gentleman, dated 
Buffalo, August 10 : — 

"The Erie left her berth at Buffalo, for Chicago, 
between 5 and 6, P. M., on Monday, with a large 
number of passengers, nearly a hundred of whom 
were Swiss emigrants. The list of passengers, as 
taken by the captain, numbered two hundred and 
five; but, in addition to those, there were several 
young children, whose names were not taken, and 
some also, it is supposed, who had not paid their fare 
when the disaster occurred, — so that it is probable 
that the passengers, together with those attached to 
the boat, numbered about two hundred and forty. 
The fire was discovered a few minutes before 8 
o'clock, off Silver Creek, a distance of twenty-five or 
thirty miles from Buffalo. The flames first appeared 
running rapidly across the boiler-deck, (a permanent 
platform of a foot or two in height, to protect the 
boiler where it projects above the main deck.) From 
its vicinity to the boiler, it had become highly inflam- 
mable, and its ignition was facilitated by a recent 
coat of paint which it had received. The boat's head 
was immediately directed toward the land, which was 
five or six miles off. 

"The flames spread with great rapidity. Perfect 
confusion succeeded, in the midst of which the small 
boat, hanging astern, was lowered by the hands and 
brought to the side. After a few ladies had been 
handed down, the frenzy of those behind became uncon- 
trollable, and numbers leaped in beyond the capacity 
of the boat to sustain them, and it swamped. Several 
of those who fell fro the boat were drawn under the 
wheel and drowned, while a few clung to the boat's 
sides and were finally saved. A second and third 
boat were rendered useless by the same infatuation. 
Some five minutes after the appearance of the fire 
the machinery became deranged and stopped. 

"So rapidly did the flames spread, that, although 



CONFLAGRATION OF THE ERIE. 245 

there was a quantity of life-preservers in the ladies' 
cabin, they could not be reached, as the cabin was 
almost instantly in a light name. But twenty min- 
utes had elapsed from the beginning of the fire, and 
the intenseness of the heat had forced overboard every 
other person, when Captain Titus threw himself into 
the water, and abandoned the boat to its fate. The few 
who then remained alive were tossing in the midst of a 
heavy swell, dependent upon the precarious support, 
one of an oar, another of a plank or box, and liable 
every moment to lose their hold through exhaustion 
and the benumbing effects of fright. The steamers De 
Witt Clinton and the Lady perceived the light, about 
quarter past 8 o'clock, at Dunkirk, where they lay, 
and put out immediately to her relief. But a distance 
of ten or fifteen miles intervening, they arrived in 
time to save only twenty-nine out of the large number 
who, a few hours before, had left Buffalo with the 
perfect confidence of a pleasant trip. 

"The Clinton, with twenty-seven of the saved on 
board, took the hull of the Erie in tow for Buffalo; 
after having been drawn, however, fifteen or twenty 
miles, the remnants of the wreck suddenly sunk. 
The steamer Lady returned, with the two she had picked 
tip, to Dunkirk ; one of them was my informant. He 
had thrown himself overboard on a plank, when he 
saw farther efforts to be useless, but relinquished it to 
a friend, who could not swim, and took for his own 
support the fender, which just then fell by his side. 
He states that those, who survived the swUmping of 
the boats, clung with desperation to the burning 
wreck. One man he saw standing for some minutes 
on the gallows-beam, the flames encircling him, with 
his coat-skirts thrown over his head, till he dropped 
dead into the body of the flames. One of the wheel- 
men is said to have been burnt up doing his duty at 
the helm. A young lad, of the age of fourteen, (by 
the name of Beebe, and one of those saved.) is re- 
ported to have behaved with great courage. As he 



246 STEAMBOAT DISASTERS. 

descended the guys to the water, the chain was so hot 
that he left masses of flesh upon the rod at every 
clasp of his hands. Reaching the rudder, he stood 
upon that, and soaking his jacket in the water, he 
applied it to assuage the pain of his hands, and then 
used it to extinguish the fire from his dress and parts 
of the wreck near him. The only lady who was 
saved, (Mrs. Lynde, wife of C. J. Lynde, Esq., of 
Milwaukie,) was standing at the stern of the boat, 
with her husband, arranging her life-preserver about 
her person, when the boat gave a lurch and precipita- 
ted her into the water. She saw nothing more of her 
husband, but was herself buoyed up till the Clinton 
arrived. 

"The first notice which the boat I was upon (the 
Fulton) had of this sad event, was at Dunkirk, about 
5 o'clock in the morning ; the boat was placed upon 
the track of the Erie, and in about one hour we per- 
ceived many indications of the disaster : a basket, a 
chest of tea, and a box of lemons were picked up. 
Presently the numerous small pieces of burnt wood, 
embraced in quite a .small area, indicated the imme- 
diate scene of the catastrophe. As they were seen 
at some distance off, the boat checked her speed; 
and her slow and solemn motion over the unmade 
graves of hundreds, the measured surge of the waves 
under her prow, and the sound of the occasionally 
puffing steam, were felt to be more solemn than any 
common tribute to the memory of the dead." 

From the narrative of Edward Johnson, a colored, 
man, who was on board the Erie at the time of the 
conflagration, we have gathered some further particu- 
lars : — 

" Early in the evening the Erie got under way. 
Not long after the boat had started, the steward, Mr. 
Gilson, came to me and said he wished to employ me, 
as I had been recommended to him as a good cook. 
He then made propositions to me, which I consented to 



CONFLAGRATION OF THE ERIE. 247 

accept, — but had not gone to work when the boat 
arrived off Silver Creek. I was sitting on the boiler- 
deck near the cook-room door, when I heard a noise 
as if some vessel had burst, and heard the rattling of 
glass. Heard a movement on the promenade-deck ; 
when I went aft and climbed up over the stern, in 
order to see what was the matter. The moment I 
got upon the promenade-deck, I saw the flame of fire 
coming up midship, and went towards it. It was 
then about 9 o'clock. The sea was running very- 
high, with a stiff breeze. I thought the vessel must 
go, as no one attempted to suppress the fire. I then 
went aft to the boats, to which many people had 
rushed. Saw so many white people about them that 
I concluded there would be no chance for me, (being 
a colored man,) and determined to seek for my own 
preservation in some other manner. 

" There were three boats, all of which I saw in the 
water afterwards, bottom up. The people hallooed 
and screamed, and commenced jumping overboard. 
A tall gentleman came aft, where I stood, followed by 
three ladies, who were screaming for mercy. He said, 
'Don't be alarmed, we shall all be saved;' and then 
sung out, ' Man, run your boat ashore ! ' and in the next 
moment, as it were, he jumped into the water from 
the taffrail, and was followed by the three ladies, 
neither of whom had made the least preparation to 
save themselves. This was the case with most of 
the people, who seemed to have lost all their senses. 
They would scream as they jumped from the vessel, 
strike the water, and nothing more could be heard. 

" While the boat was leaving the harbor at Buffalo, 
I noticed a young lady, who was very gay, and who 
talked quite loud. She told a gentleman, who was in 
conversation with her, that she expected to be sea- 
sick, and that if he would get her things from the 
cabin, she would stay on deck. After the boat was 
on fire, and while I was aft, the lady came to the 
same gentleman, who was then standing in the corner 



248 STEAMBOAT DISASTERS. 

by the taffrail, and asked him to go and look for 
her father; to which the gentleman replied, that it 
was of no use. He said he would try to save her ; and 
having picked up a settee, he held it over the stern, 
and directed her to get over and take hold of it, that 
he might thus let her down into the water. In at- 
tempting to do this, she let go her hold too soon, and 
fell into the water ; and, as she did not come up again, 
I supposed her head had struck on the rudder- 
blade. The gentleman then went Overboard with the 
settee. 

"I now thought it was time to look out for some- 
thing with which I could assist myself in the water ; 
in which I succeeded. I climbed over the stern, and 
let myself down by means of the tiller chains. When 
in the water, I could see lights all along the shore; 
and around the burning vessel the most appalling 
sight was displayed. Hats, caps, cloaks, bonnets, 
and human bodies were plainly to be seen floating 
upon the water by the light which the fire threw out, 
and cries for help were heard in every direction. 

" I call myself a good swimmer, yet I do not know 
whether I or the boat had made the headway ; but I 
had acquired the distance of about one and a half 
miles from the steamboat, when I saw two men in the 
water near me. They hallooed, and, inquiring what 
support I had, I answered, 'Nothing.' I thought they 
were as good swimmers as myself, and I did not feel 
willing to share my board with them. Then said one 
of the men, ' O Lord ! I. do not think I can stand it to 
get ashore.' Hearing this, my sympathy, was awak- 
ened, and I hallooed to them and said, 'Come to me; I 
have a board.' 

" The two men then swam up and took hold of my 
board. At one end of this board was an iron leg, 
which I had pulled from the deck with the board, at 
which end I kept hold myself, with my arm around 
the iron. After the two men had come to me, they 
proposed to return to the yawl, which could be seen 



CONFLAGRATION OF THE ERIE. 249 

at a distance, bottom up. I at first declined to do so, 
because I thought we could make the land, — but 
afterwards finding we made very slow headway, I 
consented. 

"We soon reached the yawl, to the keel of which 
some ten or twelve persons were clinging. At a short 
distance from this was a lady, (who subsequently 
proved to be Mrs. 0. J. Lynde,) calling for help. A 
person who had hold of the boat at the right, whom I 
afterwards learned was Captain Titus, said that the 
woman had a life-preserver on ; and another person 
cried out to her, 'My dear woman, you are doing 
better than we are.' But, as she continued to cry for 
assistance, I proposed to Captain Titus, whom I then 
did not know, that if he would take hold of the end 
of my board, and agree to give it to me when I should 
come back, I would go for Mrs. Lynde and bring her 
up ; to which he assented, and I swam towards her. 

"When I reached her, she was lying nearly on her 
back. She had a life-preserver on, reaching around her 
body under one arm and over the other shoulder. An 
oar was in the water near her, which I caught hold of 
to assist myself with, and, as I came up to Mrs. Lynde, 
she laid hold of it. I then seized her arm and swam 
with her towards the yawl, during which she com- 
plained much of the cold. When I had brought, her 
to the yawl, I requested her to lay hold of the boat, 
but she declined to do so, and said, ' Let go, I shall do 
now.' I did so, and Captain Titus gave me my 
place again. 

"The heavy sea knocked us about terribly, and 
sometimes the yawl turned entirely over. In this sit- 
uation we remained for a long time, until the boat of 
the De AVitt Clinton picked us up, and rescued us 
while at the last extremity. Indeed, I was the only 
one who could get into the boat of the Clinton with 
no assistance; the others, entirely exhausted, were 
pulled in and laid at the bottom of the boat, like so 
many sheep tied for the slaughter.'' 



250 STEAMBOAT DISASTERS. 



BURNING OF THE ERIE. 

The parting scene was o'er, — they left 

The city in their pride ; 
And every heart was merry then, 

And fears were thrown aside ; 
And proudly dashed the gallant bark 

The swelling surges o'er ; 
And dimmer on the distance grew 

The fast receding shore. 

There were the blooming and the bright, 

And men with silvery hair ; 
And there were those whose joyous hearts 

Were free from every care ; 
There, too, was mingled with that throng 

A bold, but lonely band, — 
Far, far from distant shores they came, 

Far from their father land, — 

Where feudal castles rear their towers 

Up to the vaulted sky, — 
And Switzerland's proud mountains lift 

Their hoary heads on high ; 
And where Geneva's placid lake 

With brightness glitters o'er, — 
Land, where the martyrs often trod ! 

This was their native shore ! 

The sun, in splendor wrapped, went down, 

And all around was gay ; 
And, gliding o'er the waves, their bark 

Still proudly urged its way. — 
But hark ! upon the startled ear 

There breaks a piercing cry ! 
While, bursting forth, the livid flame 

Lights up the darkened sky ! 

O, what may now the bravest do ! 
Where may the timid flee ! 



CONFLAGRATION OF THE ERIE. 251 

The frightful choice of death remains, — 

By fire — or yawning sea ! 
See how it wraps the fairest ones, 

Still struggling with its might, — 
While o'er the gloomy waters gleams 

Its dread, unnatural light ! 

See mothers clasp their little ones 

Close to their burning breast ; 
While fathers — brothers — sisters — all 

In last embrace are pressed ! 
The shriek, the gasp, the dying groan, 

Still rends the midnight air! 
And yet is hearn the roaring flame, 

And wailing of despair ! 

A few amid the dashing waves 

To frail support yet pressed; 
One woman there, among that few, 

Was fearless as the rest ! 
But courage, now, for help is near,— 

(That help how many craved !) 
Courage ! for generous aid now comes, — 

And ye will soon be saved ! 

The noble and the generous deed 

Shall ne'er forgotten be, 
How boldly launched a little band 

Their bark upon the sea ; 
The wild waves lashed the treacherous shore, — 

Their boat was weak and frail, — 
While high around the billows rose, — 

But yet they did not quail \ 

Light from the burning wreck still gleamed 

Upon the foaming wave, — . 

And still they toiled and rowed that night 

The perishing to save. 
But 0, could then the troubled lake 

Its bosom wide unfold, 
How would their generous hearts be thrilled 

With horrors yet untold ! 



252 STEAMBOAT DISASTERS. 

There lay the father and the son, 

With pale and marble brow ; — 
There lay the mother and the babe, 

All cold and speechless now ; — 
There lay the lover and the loved 

In fond affection's clasp ; — 
There lay the friend and enemy 

In death's convulsive grasp. 

O, where is all the beauty now 

That trod upon that deck ! 
Alas ! go view the charred remains 

Upon the burning wreck ! 
Ask of the ashes scattered 'mid 

The waters and the fire ; — 
That treacherous lake was now their grave 1 

The boat, their funeral pyre ! 




EXPLOSION OF THE STEAMER PERSIAN, 

On the Mississippi River, while on her Passage 
from New Orleans to St, Louis, November 7, 
1840 ; by which Fatal Occurrence upwards of 
Nineteen Lives were lost, 

The steamer Persian, under the command of Cap- 
tain Gaslee, left New Orleans for St. Louis on the 
evening of November 3, having on board a large 
number of passengers. She had proceeded safely on 
her way till the night of the 7th, — at which time she 
was but a few miles below Arkansas River, — when 
the flues of her starboard boiler exploded with tremen- 
dous violence, by which nineteen persons were almost 
instantaneously hurried into eternity, and between 
thirty and forty severely scalded or otherwise injured. 
The chief engineer was killed at his post, just after 
putting the engine in motion ; as was also the second 
mate, who had just returned with the yawl from 
shore. No other officer of the boat was injured, nor 
any of the cabin passengers, as they were in the cabin 
above, and, as it appeared, out of reach of the disas- 
trous effects of the explosion. From their proximity, 
the destruction was mostly confined to the steerage 
passengers and crew. The accident occurred in the 
after part of the starboard boiler, making a clear sweep 
of the deck from the rushing of the steam, from all 
seven of the boilers, carrying with it brick work and 
rubbish of every description to the after part of the 
boat, on the lower deck, where the steerage passen- 
gers' cabin is located. 

22 



254 STEAMBOAT DISASTERS. 

We have not been able to obtain a complete list 
of those who were lost. Among them were John 
O'Brien; Samuel Hammers* of Illinois ; Mr. Fields, of 
Tennessee ; and two others, names unknown. There 
were also four persons in one family, and two chil- 
dren of another. Three young men, who had come 
on board the day before from a flat boat, jumped 
overboard and were drowned. Of the crew there 
were lost, David Greene, first engineer; John Wil- 
liams, second mate ; Oscar Brown, and Washington 
Marks, firemen. 

From the account of a witness we extract the fol- 
lowing : — 

" The sight witnessed on board the fatal boat was 
the most awful and distressing I ever beheld. The 
large and spacious cabin of the Persian was covered 
with the sufferers, and with those beyond the pangs of 
pain, — men, women, and children, of all ages. Many 
of them were entirely stripped of skin, and some of 
the flesh from their bones. As to the causes of the 
disaster, it would be difficult to assign the precise 
ones, other than some defect in the boilers that had 
escaped the detection of the inspectors, who had ex- 
amined and pronounced them in good order prior to 
her leaving St. Louis on her present trip to New 
Orleans. Captain Gaslee is one of the best men in 
his vocation on the western waters ; careful, prudent, 
and attentive in all respects to the safety of the lives 
and the property intrusted to his charge. The engi- 
neer who was killed was actually receiving higher 
wages than any other on the river, — which is some 
testimony of the reputation he enjoyed for skilfulness 
and knowledge in his profession. The Persian was 
one of the largest class boats, had an excellent char- 
acter for the good management of those in charge 
of her, and had always been a popular boat." 



LOSS OF THE NORTH CAROLINA, 

While on her Passage from Wilmington, N, C, to 
Charleston, S. C, July 25, 1841. 

The steamer North Carolina left Wilmington for 
Charleston, Saturday, July 24. Early on Sunday 
morning, when about twenty-five or thirty miles north- 
east of Georgetown, she came in contact with the 
steamboat Governor Dudley. As the boats were going 
in opposite directions, and were both under good 
headway, the force with which they met was tre- 
mendous, and the North Carolina began immediately 
to sink. 

The collision took place about I o'clock, on a 
beautiful starlight night, with a perfectly calm sea. 
The boats were going at the rate of twelve or fourteen 
miles an hour, and were seen by each other for a mile 
or two before they came together. How they man- 
aged to run into each other has never transpired ; the 
captain of each boat was in his berth at the time, — 
having stood his regular watch, — and the mate of each 
had charge of his respective boat. In the collision 
which took place, the Governor Dudley's bow struck 
the North Carolina between the ladies' and gentle- 
men's cabin. The. violence of the shock may be 
inferred from the fact that in ten minutes after it took 
place the North Carolina had sunk to the water's 
edge. 

The passengers of both boats were all in their berths 
at the time, and had barely time to escape with their 
lives. The great coolness and self-possession mani- 



256 STEAMBOAT DISASTERS. 

fested on the trying occasion by the captain of each 
boat, was doubtless the means of preventing any 
loss of life. The small boats were immediately 
manned, and the passengers of the North Carolina all 
conveyed in safety to the Governor Dudley. In about 
ten minutes after every one was transferred to the 
latter boat, the North Carolina, then down to the 
water's edge, keeled over. 

Among the passengers in the North Carolina were 
several members of Congress, — one of whom, Gen. 
Dawson, of Georgia, lost fifteen thousand dollars in his 
trunk. Other passengers also lost considerable sums of 
money, and most of them were losers of their little all. 

The Governor Dudley had a hole about four feet 
square knocked in her bow, and at first leaked badly, 
but the aperture was in a measure closed with blan- 
kets, tarpaulins, and other articles of a like nature. 
She laid by all night, and the next morning picked up 
two or three floating trunks, which was all that was 
saved from the North Carolina, — every thing else hav- 
ing gone to the bottom in her. 

The passengers in the North Carolina were all 
taken back in the Governor Dudley to Wilmington ; 
and, while on the way thither, some of the passengers 
of the latter boat generously raised a subscription to 
aid those who had lost their all in the sunken boat. 

We extract the following from the letter of a gen- 
tleman : — 

" About 1 O'clock, on Saturday night, the steamboats 
Governor Dudley and North Carolina unfortunately 
came in collision, the Dudley's bow running into the 
North Carolina's larboard quarter, fifteen or twenty feet 
from the stern. The captains of both boats had just 
turned in. The North Carolina went down almost 
immediately, and the crew and passengers were saved 
with some difficulty. Not a single life was lost; but 
the loss of valuable baggage was very great, — several 
gentlemen, returning from Congress, having large 



LOSS OF THE NORTH CAROLINA. 257 

amounts of money with them in their trunks, of which 
but few were saved. The Governor Dudley remained 
till daylight, with the hope of saving as much as pos- 
sible, and then came on to Wilmington, bringing the 
crew and passengers of the North Carolina, — many of 
whom did not save a particle of clothing. 

" The accident occurred in about eleven fathoms 
water. The bow of the Dudley was a good deal 
shattered ; but she made no water except on her way 
returning, — the night being fortunately remarkably 
calm. 

"There were no ladies on board, except the wife of 
the Hon. Mr. Hubbard, whose loss in money was 
larger than that of any other person on board. Some 
of the passengers received slight personal injuries; 
but, terrible as the occurrence has been, we have cause 
to be thankful that no life was lost." 

22* 17 




EXPLOSION ON BOARD THE WILMINGTON, 
On the Mississippi River, November 12, 1839. 

The steamboat Wilmington left New Orleans for 
St. Louis, November 11. Early the next morning, she 
stopped to wood near the mouth of the Arkansas 
river, and soon after leaving the wood-yard, her 
middle boiler burst, tearing off nearly two rings in its 
centre. The explosion threw the other boilers into 
the river, with the chimney, and carried the centre 
boiler backwards along the starboard side of the 
engine, nearly the length of the boiler, tearing all the 
stanchions and other works, driving the fire-bed and 
deck under the boilers down into the hold. The 
piece of iron detached from the exploding boiler, 
being about three feet wide, and reaching quite round 
it, was carried directly through the social hall, tearing 
away every thing in its course, and cutting off the 
pilot-house, in which the pilot was at the time, and 
falling through the after part of the hurricane-deck 
into the ladies' cabin. The furnaces and all the 
upper deck, back to the second room in the main 
cabin, were torn away, or so knocked down as to fall 
immediately in. 

There were several thrown overboard. The cap- 
tain instantly manned and sent the yawl out, and 
succeeded in picking up several of them. Those of 
the passengers, who were injured, were around the 
stove in the social hall, and suffered most from the 
falling in of the floor and the stove. One had his leg 
broken in this way. 

Immediately after the accident the boat took fire, 
but was soon extinguished,* without serious injury. 
Fortunately, she was in such a situation, that, by 
the aid of the current, they were enabled to run her 
ashore. 



LOSS OF THE STEAMER BEDFORD, 
On the Missouri River, April 27, 1840. 

The steamboat Bedford, Captain Walker, in de- 
scending the Missouri river, April 27, struck a snag, 
and sunk in less than five miuutes. It was not pre- 
cisely ascertained how many were drowned. Mr. 
Moore, an old revolutionary soldier ; a negro woman, 
and three children; a white infant, whose mother was 
saved ; and a gentleman, name unknown, were 
among those who were lost. Two or three gentlemen 
on board were sick, one of whom died near the place 
of the disaster. The passengers lost all their bag- 
gage. 



EXPLOSION OF THE JOHN HANCOCK, 

On her Passage from Norwich to New London, in 

1817, 

The most singular steamboat explosion, perhaps, 
that ever occurred, was that Of the John Hancock, on 
the waters of Long Island Sound, in 1817. It is rela- 
ted by that veteran steamboat commander, Captain 
Elihu S. Bunker, in his reply to the collector of New 
York, asking for information to be transmitted to the 
treasury department. 

"Gilbert Brewster, Esq., of Norwich, fancied he 
was in possession of a plan for building a steamboat 
that would prove superior to that then in use ; he ac- 
cordingly built a small boat, called the John Hancock, 
into which he put a small engine and a wooden boiler. 



260 STEAMBOAT DISASTERS. 

He prepared her for an excursion from Norwich to 
New London at the time that President Monroe 
visited that section of the United States. Fifty gen- 
tlemen went on board, and they proceeded down the 
river from Norwich. They were all, together with 
the cook, (a colored man,) in the cabin abaft the 
boiler, when, approaching New London, it was an- 
nounced that the Fulton, which had the President on 
board, was in sight. The gentlemen went on deck 
as fast as the gangway would permit them to move, 
the cook being the last at the foot of the stairs. 
When he was half way up, the end of the boiler was 
blown out, and his left leg slightly scalded. The 
force was so great, with which the end of the boiler 
flew, that it swept every thing before it : tables, chairs, 
the partition between the ladies and gentlemen's cabin, 
— all went out at the stern of the boat ! In one min- 
ute more,— had they staid in the cabin, — fifty-one per- 
sons would have been swept into eternity I" 



EXPLOSION OF THE STEAMER GREEN- 
FIELD, 

On the Connecticut River, May 18, 1840, 

The steamboat Greenfield, Captain Crawford, which 
plied between Greenfield and Hartford, as a tow-boat, 
was blown up, by the explosion of her boilers, on 
Monday, May 18. The boat was constructed to pass 
through the locks and canals on the river, drawing 
but little water, and quite narrow. At the time of 
the explosion she had four freight-boats in tow, and 
had stopped to attach a fifth. Both boilers burst at 
the same time ; and the boat was so much shattered 
that she sank immediately, carrying down one of the 



EXPLOSION ON BOARD THE MOTTO. 261 

freight boats in six feet water. The captain was 
thrown high in the air, and fell upon his head in one 
of the freight boats, and survived but a few hours. 
Mr. Wood, the engineer, was killed instantaneously 
in the engine room, and one of the firemen was thrown 
some distance, but fell in the water and was not ma- 
terially hurt. Mr. Lallin, the inventor and construc- 
tor of the boilers, was on board for the purpose of ob- 
serving their operation, and was so severely wounded 
that there was little hope of his recovery. Two or 
three of the men belonging to the freight boats were 
slightly injured. Captain Crawford was well known 
and respected on the river, and had been engaged in 
the same business for many years previous. 



EXPLOSION ON BOARD THE MOTTO, 

On the Ohio River, during her first Passage from 
Louisville to Pittsburg, August, 1836. 

The steamboat Motto, on her first trip from Louis- 
ville to Pittsburg, ran on the shoals at the foot of 
Blannerhasset's Island. In attempting to get oif, too 
great a quantity of steam accumulated, and the boiler 
burst, killing three persons, and severely scalding 
many others, eight of whom died within a few hours. 

The persons who were instantly killed, were, the 
engineer ; a deck passenger, who was blown through 
the stern of the boat, more than twenty feet, into the 
river; and a cabin passenger, Mr. W. F. Adams, of 
Hollidaysburg, Penn. The fate of Mr. Adams seemed 
to have made a greater impression on the surviving 
crew and passengers than that of any other of the 
sufferers. He had just graduated at Augusta College, 
in Kentucky, and was returning home to his family 



262 STEAMBOAT DISASTERS. 

with his diploma. He was attended to the boat by a 
large procession of his fellow-students ; and the hearty- 
cheers and kindly farewell given to the youth by 
those with whom he had been so long associated, 
commended him to the respect and affectionate regard 
of the passengers and crew of the boat. At the mo- 
ment of the disaster the cabin passengers were all in 
or near their berths on the upper deck and aft, — it 
being about two hours after dinner, — all, excepting 
young Adams ; he had been on the lower deck, and 
was just leaving a position near the wheel, when the 
explosion took place. His death must have been in- 
stantaneous ; he was found twisted around the shaft 
of the wheel. 

An individual, who was present, remarked, that, 
though used to rough scenes, his heart was chilled by 
that presented on board the Motto. Never did he 
witness, never did his imagination conjure up such an 
appalling sight. 



LOSS OF THE STEAMER GREEN RIVER, 
On Green River, April 22, 1840. 

The steamboat Green River, Captain Brown, which 
plies on the river of the same name, in attempting to 
pass one of the locks, struck an eddy and capsized. 
The river was very high, and the current unusually 
strong. Nine persons were drowned, — five females 
and four men. The names of those lost were Mr. 
Brady ; Jacob Beck ; a little girl, named Margaret 
Eckebergee ; and four young ladies, of the name of 
Suttlewine, the daughters of a widow lady who was 
on board at the time, but fortunately rescued. James 
Finley and Andrew Haley, two of the boat hands, 
were also lost. 



ACCIDENT ON BOARD THE FLORA, 
On the Ohio River, November 17, 1836. 

The steamboat Flora, Captain R. D. Chapman, on 
her passage up the river from Louisville to Wheeling, 
November 17, met with a serious accident, by which 
several lives were lost, and a number scalded. 

The following particulars of the disaster were fur- 
nished by one of the passengers : — 

" On my return from the west, I took passage on 
board the steamboat Flora, at Louisville, bound for 
Wheeling. Early in the morning after we left Louis- 
ville, while the passengers were most of them in 
their berths, the two boilers, from some defect in the 
lower deck of the boat, settled suddenly, leaving the 
entire weight of them upon the cast iron pipes, — com- 
monly called the conducting pipes, by which the 
steam is conducted to operate upon the machinery. 
These pipes immediately broke, and, being directly 
under the social hall, which is on a level with the 
passengers' cabin, a volume of steam was forced 
through the floor, stripping up the boards, and com- 
pletely filling the hall and cabin. There was no ex- 
plosion by which the sleepers might be warned of 
their danger; but a slight quivering of the deck seemed 
to tell those who were awake that all was not right. 
There was an alarm at once raised that the boiler had 
burst. 

* "With eight or ten others I made for the ladies' 
cabin, in the stern of the boat ; but we could form no 
idea of the work of misery and destruction till we re- 
turned to the gentlemen's cabin, — and there such a 
scene presented itself as I can never forget: some 
were running about, severely scalded, with the skin 
pealing from their faces, hands and arms; others, 



264 STEAMBOAT DISASTERS. 

in their berths, who were not awakened until the 
steam aroused them, were writhing about in the most 
intense agony, having inhaled the scalding vapor so 
as to prevent their speaking only in whispers Mr. 
Benjamin Myrick, of Charlestown, and another gen- 
tleman, died shortly after the accident. 

"The disaster occurred about thirty miles below 
Cincinnati, to which place we were towed by the 
steamboat Mountaineer, which overtook us soon after. 
Mr. Myrick and another person were buried there ; 
and a number were carried to the hospital, among 
whom was Mr. Kinnaid, member of Congress from 
Indiana, who died after having suffered about three 
weeks. 

"It was supposed that the cabin door was opened 
by some one to escape, as soon as the pipes broke, by 
which means the steam rushed in and performed its 
work of destruction. Almost every one on board was 
wounded, either by scalding, or by attempting to jump 
through the windows. The boat being crowded, I 
had not been able to secure a berth, but was obliged 
to sleep on a cot on the floor, — to which circumstance 
my own fortunate escape may be attributed. 

"One or two, who were in the immediate vicinity 
of the place where the steam first passed through the 
floor, saved themselves by remarkable presence of 
mind : one of them, who was a cripple, escaped by 
creeping under the berths, where he remained on the 
cabin floor until the steam cooled ; another drew his 
broad-brimmed hat over his face and ran out on the 
guard, — his hat being burnt to a complete crisp, which 
broke into pieces like a pipe-stem. 

" No blame was attached to the engineer, as it was 
plainly showed that the settling of the deck on which 
the boilers were supported was the prime cause of 
this distressing calamity. " 



LOSS OF THE STEAMER MARY EXPRESS, 
At MobUe, AprO 29, 1840. 

The steamboat Mary Express sunk at the wharf, 
April 29, about 3 o'clock in the morning, without any- 
assignable cause. She had been cleared and wooded 
the night before, ready to start at the usual hour in 
the morning, and the captain had retired to his berth. 

Towards morning he was awakened by an unusual 
noise, which seemed like the rushing of water. He 
started up, and, on opening the door, found the boat 
sinking, and the cotton already washed overboard. 
He rushed to the shore. Before he could raise the 
hands, who were sleeping on shore, the boat careened 
over; her chimneys fell landward, and she went 
down, breaking her fastenings, in about thirty-five 
feet depth of water. 



EXPLOSION OF THE STEAMER FRANKLIN, 
At Mobile, March 13, 1836. 

The steamboat Franklin had but just started from 
the wharf for Montgomery, March 13, with a hun- 
dred passengers on board, when both her boilers 
exploded, and a number of persons lost their lives. 
She had advanced but forty or fifty yards from her 
starting-place, and was lying to for the purpose of 
taking on board a passenger who had been left behind, 
when the accident took place. 

A gentleman, in a letter to a friend, said : — 

"I was standing close bv the river's brink, and 

23 



266 STEAMBOAT DISASTERS. 

saw the whole fore part of her deck, with large pieces 
of the boilers, carried to an immense height, with the 
pilot and one of the hands. The pilot fell into the dock, 
at the distance of a hundred and fifty yards, having 
been thrown into the air nearly three hundred feet ; 
he was dreadfully mutilated. I saw the bodies of two 
or three persons who were killed instantaneously; 
and of many others who were seriously, perhaps 
fatally, wounded. The explosion was dreadful ; the 
upper deck, from the wheel-house forward, was car- 
ried to a great height. I fear the list of sufferers will 
be large, — perhaps fifteen or twenty killed, besides the 
wounded." 



EXPLOSION ON BOARD THE UNION, 

A new Steam Ferry-Boat, which had just com* 
menced running at Alexandria, July 12, 1837, 

The new steam ferry-boat, Union, commenced run- 
ning, July 12, between Alexandria and the opposite 
side of the Potomac. The passage for the day was 
free; and, after making several trips, and as the boat 
was again about leaving the opposite shore for Alex- 
andria, her boiler collapsed, and three persons were 
instantly killed, and several were badly scalded. 

This lamentable accident originated in the neglect 
of the engineer to let off steam while remaining on the 
Maryland shore. This, it is thought, was done in 
order to lose no power, and to make a good exhibition 
of the velocity of the boat on its return to the oppo- 
site side. One of the first victims of this disaster was 
the wife of the engineer, who was immediately killed, 
and her body frightfully mangled. 

The interposition of a merciful Providence should 



ACCIDENT ON BOARD THE SAMSON. 267 

not be lost sight of in this event. The explosion 
occurred a few minutes before the boat started, while 
a great number of the passengers were yet on shore. 
Had the explosion been delayed but a few seconds, 
there is no knowing how many more lives might have 
been lost. While, therefore, we condole with the suf- 
ferers, let us not be unthankful for the preservation of 
the many survivers." 



ACCIDENT ON BOARD THE SAMSON, 
In New York Harbor, July 4, 1839. 

As the Samson was on her way from Staten Island 
to New York, July 4, between 3 and 4 o'clock in the 
afternoon, her upper deck gave way, and fell upon 
those who were standing beneath. The boat was 
densely crowded with passengers, two of whom were 
instantly killed, and several others severely injured. 
One of those killed was Mr. Joseph Chambers, and 
the other was Mrs. Johnson, an elderly Scotch 
lady, both residing in New York. Mr. Moses Henri- 
quez and Mr. Augustus Vanpeli, both of that city, 
were severely injured. The consternation on board 
the boat was indescribable. The passengers were so 
crowded that it was difficult for any one to move, and 
the rush was so great at the time of the accident, as 
nearly to upset the boat, endangering the lives of all 
on board. The steamboat Sun, which had started from 
the island soon after the Samson, soon came along- 
side, towed the latter up to the city, and relieved her 
passengers from their melancholy and unhappy situa- 
tion. 



LOSS OF THE ODD FELLOW, 
A Miniature Steamer, November 6, 1841. 

The little steamer Odd Fellow, which had been 
employed in towing canal boats up and down the 
Niagara, encountered a gale on the morning of Satur- 
day, November 6, and was lost on the reef, two miles 
east of Gravelly Bay. Mr. Baker, who was captain 
and owner, and his two assistants, Mr. Holmes and 
Mr. Mott, saved their lives by swimming ashore. 



LOSS OF THE BUNKER HILL, 
On Long Island Sound, November 15, 1841, 

The steamboat Bunker Hill, Captain Huntington, 
on her passage from New York to Hartford, ran 
ashore in the fog, about 10 o'clock, Sunday morning, on 
the Cornfield Point, about two miles from the Con- 
necticut River. The passengers and freight were 
landed in safety. 



RECENT DISASTERS ON THE MISSISSIPPI 
RIVER. 



The steamboat Dubuque, on her passage from St. 
Louis to Galena, August 15, 1837, collapsed a flue of 
her larboard boiler, and twenty-seven persons were 
killed and wounded. The pilot immediately put the 
boat ashore, and effected a landing without farther 
accident. As soon as it was possible to clear the way, 
an examination of the boiler-deck was made. The 
force of the explosion had literally cleared it of freight, 
and every thing which stood in its way. The deck 
passengers, and several of the hands, were dreadfully 
scalded. Many of them, in their agony, fled to the shore, 
stripped themselves of their clothes, taking off with 
them much of the skin. It was several hours before 
any of them died. The number of deaths was sixteen ; 
four of these belonged to the crew, — the remainder 
were deck passengers. The cabin passengers escaped 
with little or no injury. 



The steamer Belle, on her . passage from New Or- 
leans to St. Louis, November, 1839, while stopping at 
a wood-yard about a mile above Liberty, Illinois, took 
fire and was entirely destroyed. She had two hun- 
dred passengers, men, women, and children, who for- 
tunately escaped, but without saving any of their 
effects, except such as they seized and bore on shore 
at the moment of the alarm. There was a large 
quantity of powder on board, which exploded very 
shortly after the fire was discovered, scattering and 
completely destroying a valuable cargo, and making a 
total wreck of the vessel. Not even the books of the 
boat were saved. It is doubtful whether an individu- 
al would have escaped, had not the boat lay close by 

23* 



270 STEAMBOAT DISASTERS, 

the shore, thereby enabling the passengers to leave 
previous to the explosion. 



The steamer Smithland, while on her passage 
from St. Louis to New Orleans, November 1, 1841, 
ran foul of a snag, and was sunk. The vessel broke 
and parted aft the boiler. There were no lives lost. 



The steam towboat, Grampus, Captain Martin, was 
blown up by the explosion of her boiler, on the 13th 
of May, 1840, when twenty- five miles outside the 
Mississippi bar, and sunk in about half an hour. 
John Sprigg, the second engineer, and Wm. Walker, 
one of the firemen, were killed. Wm. T. Knight, the 
mate, was scalded ; as was the cook, who was also 
badly bruised. 

At the time of the accident, the Grampus was round- 
ing to, in order to take in tow the schooner Victoria, 
Captain Kenney. The schooner's boats were imme- 
diately sent to the relief of the sufferers. 



The steamboat Ambassador, in June, 1841, was run 
into by the steamer Yicksburg, whereby one man was 
killed, and four others knocked overboard and drowned. 
The accident occurred just before daylight, while many 
of the hands and deck passengers were asleep on the 
guards. 



The steamer Clarkesville, while on her passage 
from New Orleans to Nashville, June 17, 1841, ran on 
one of the snags with which the Mississippi river 
abounds, and was entirely lost. The cabin parted 
from the hull, and floated off, with the numerous deck 
passengers grouped on the hurricane-deck, most of 
whom were drowned. The ladies had taken refuge 



ON THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER. 271 

in the wheel-house, which parted from the cabin, and 
left them to float down the river, until a boat from the 
shore came to their rescue. Most of those who 
jumped overboard, and had secured spars and other 
articles with which to buoy themselves up, were also 
saved. 



The steamboat Athenian, which was established to 
ply between New Orleans city and the Balize, took 
fire on Monday, July 19, 1841, and burnt to the wa- 
ter's edge. She was about thirty miles from the 
Balize, rounding to at a wood-yard, when those on 
shore discovered her hurricane-deck on fire aft, and 
gave the alarm. The wind blew fresh at the time, 
spreading the flames so rapidly as to defy all efforts at 
extinguishing them. All on board escaped, but no 
property was saved. 



The steamer Louisiana, Captain Woods, when near 
the Bayou Sarah, on the Mississippi river, August, 
1841, met with a melancholy disaster. Her starboard 
boiler exploded, and five of the crew were swept into 
eternity, and four severely scalded. There was on 
board a party of United States soldiers ; one of whom 
was instantaneously killed, and from twelve to fif- 
teen were missing. 



ESCAPE OF THE STEAM-SHIP BRITANNIA, 

From the Rocks and Breakers off the Harbor of 
Halifax, daring a Fog, May 19, 1841. 

The steam-ship Britannia, under the command of 
Captain Cleland, left Boston, May 17, for Halifax and 
Liverpool. When off the harbor of Halifax, and while 
in charge of the pilot, (there being at the time a dense 
fog,) she struck on the rocks; but was soon backed off, 
and proceeded up the harbor to the town. It was 
found that she leaked considerably, until lightened by 
taking out the coal ; and it was deemed improper to 
proceed on her voyage without overhauling her bottom. 
For this purpose the vessel was taken round to St. 
Johns, where it was ascertained that the injuries she 
had received were very trifling, — some of the copper 
about her stern was torn off, and a few feet of her 
keel and fore-foot were broomed. She was soon re<* 
paired, and on the morning of the 26th of May she 
sailed from St. Johns for Halifax, to take in her pas- 
sengers and the mails for Liverpool. A large portion 
of the passengers addressed a circular to Captain Cle- 
land, exonerating him from all blame, and speaking 
of his conduct in the highest terms. 

The following extract from the letter of a passen- 
ger, gives a brief but graphic description of the immi- 
nent danger to which the Britannia was exposed : — 

" For over three hours we were among the break- 
ers, encompassed by the elements of destruction. 
Nearly a dozen times we escaped from different reefs ; 
each escape seemed our last. You may be aware that 
the steamers are accompanied, between Boston and 
Halifax, by two sea captains, who have been a long 
while in the trade between the two ports, and who 



ESCAPE OF THE BRITANNIA. 273 

from this are supposed to know the intricacies of the 
coast, and also the channels to the two harbors. Be- 
sides our regular commander, Captain Cleland, we 
had on board Captain Boole, and, under his guidance, 
attempted the entrance of the harbor. We got the 
bearings of Sombro Light by the answer to our signal 
guns,— which were answered by the folks at the light- 
house. We ran by compass into what the two cap- 
tains judged to be the channel, and in a few minutes 
found a reef on what was supposed to be the eastern 
shore of it. This we barely cleared ; and while Cap- 
tain Cleland was giving his orders to the helmsman 
and engineer, a passenger stepped forward and coun- 
termanded those orders. Suffice it to say that his 
orders were not obeyed, for, if they had been, the ship 
would have been lost at the outset. The fog was so 
-thick that we could not see a boat's length ahead, and 
every five minutes brought us near the edge of some 
reef, from which, however, we escaped, until we 
struck on a reef which is now thought to be Morris' 
Point. 

"■At the time we struck, we had scarcely any headway 
on her, and were drifted broadside on by the surge of 
the waves. The wheels being aback, we got off in a 
few seconds, when an inward wave lifted her. One 
would have thought that, after running so many risks 
and hair-breadth escapes, the captains would have 
been satisfied, and relinquished their daring object ot 
getting her into port in such a fog ; and, being so per- 
fectly bewildered as they were, it seems as though 
they should have put to sea, where they could obtain 
a good offing. But, no ! again they must try it; and, 
in less than ten minutes from our first striking, the 
same line of rocks showed their black heads to our 
view. Stop here they could not; the only way was 
to trust to the helm. 

" ' Port the helm ! Bring her round short ! ' shouted 
Captain Cleland, from the paddle-box. ' Hard-a-port 
she has it, sir,' answered the weather-beaten seaman 

18 



274 STEAMBOAT DISASTERS. 

at the wheel. I stood on the promenade-deck, watch- 
ing first the breakers, and then the wake of the vessel, 
and I found by the latter that she was answering 
her helm nobly. The moment seemed an hour, and 
we fancied we heard her keel grating on the rocks. 

"As she came round, the rocks were less than ten 
feet from us, but, the shore being perfectly perpendicu- 
lar, we touched nothing. Under us were from twenty 
to forty fathoms of water, and, into that we should 
have sunk, had the wheel but quivered a hair. 
A nearer approach to, and a narrower escape from 
breakers, no vessel ever had. A short time after 
this a harbor pilot found us, after about two hours' 
search. 

" 'What land is that?' inquired I of him, pointing 
to a low reef at some distance. That is so and so, 
answered he, firmly and unhesitatingly ; and by that % 
we knew he had got correct bearings. What would 
have become of the noble Britannia, had he not come 
on board, it is impossible to say. A dark night was 
coming on, and we were in a dangerous situation ; and 
I doubt if we could have found our way to sea. 

" Where the blame lies, I shall not say. The fault 
consists in attempting to run into port in such a dan- 
gerous time, and in periling life and property to save 
a few hours." 



LOSS OF THE STEAM-PACKET SAVANNAH, 

Which sprung a-leak off Cape Hatteras, during a 
Gale, while on her Passage from Savannah to 
New York, Novemher 28, 1841. 

The steam-packet Savannah, under the command 
of Captain John R. Crane, left Savannah for New 
York on the 26th of November. There were but few 
passengers on board, among whom was the wife of 
the captain, and his eldest son. The vessel proceeded 
gallantly on her way, with favorable weather, until 
the morning of Sunday, the 28th, when the sky was 
overclouded, and the wind began to rise. It soon in- 
creased to a gale, accompanied with rain. At this 
time they were off Cape Hatteras : when it was dis- 
covered that she had sprung a-leak, which, notwith- 
standing the pumps were worked incessantly, gained 
so rapidly on them that the furnace fires were soon 
extinguished, when the vessel drifted like a log on the 
troubled waters, with the sea making a continual 
breach over her. At this moment of horror, all that 
remained was to launch the small boats upon the 
angry waves, which threatened every moment to 
overwhelm them. We annex the statement of Cap- 
tain Crane: — 

"Sunday, the 28th, it commenced blowing a gale 
from the north-east, and, at 10, A. M., began raining; 
at 12, made the land about the Nag's Head, the wind 
hauling easterly and blowing a gale, the ship behaving 
nobly, and the engine working well, the sea increasing, 
and heaving us in shore. At half past 4, it lighted up 



276 STEAMBOAT DISASTERS. 

a little ; saw the cape, land bearing west ; still steer- 
ing south-east by south, and not gaining off shore, 
took in the foresail, and hauled off east by south, 
every thing working well. At 6, P. M., the engineer 
reported he could not keep her free with the pumps. 
I asked him if they worked well. He said, yes, but 
that she had sprung a-leak. I told him that was im- 
possible, as the boat was too strong ; but I soon found, 
to my sorrow, that it was but too true. Immediately 
all hands went to bailing, but to little purpose, the 
water gaining on us so fast that it soon put the fur- 
nace fires out, and then our pumps were useless, and 
the sea made a breach over us. The boats were then 
ordered to be got ready, which was immediately done ; 
but, in lowering the starboard quarter-boat, they 
nearly stove her, and then let her go with only two 
persons in her, — Mr. Johnson, and Mr. Kilpatrick, the 
engineer. I then had the other quarter-boat cleared 
away, and got the females in her, with the intention 
of getting her to the leeward, to get some necessary 
articles in : but, the falls getting foul, I jumped into 
her and cut them away, and finally succeeded in get- 
ting the boat clear, but could not get alongside of the 
steamer again. 

" Thus we were left adrift in an open boat, in 
eighteen fathoms of water, off Cape Hatteras, blowing 
a gale at north, with thirteen persons on board, and 
four of them females, without a drop of water, or an 
ounce of provisions of any kind. After being in the 
boat half an hour, the wind hauled to the north-west, 
and blew harder than ever, with a tremendous ugly 
cross-sea. It broke into the boat twice, and nearly 
filled her. Thus for forty-eight hours we were scud- 
ding before the sea, not knowing what course we 
were making, and not one with a dry thread on, or 
hardly moving our position, — the females sitting in the 
bottom of the boat the whole time. On Wednesday, the 
weather moderated; at 8 o'clock, discovered a sail to 
the eastward of us ; got our oars to work immediately, 



LOSS OF THE SAVANNAH. 277 

and pulled for her with what remaining strength we 
had. As soon as they discovered us, they hove to, and 
took us on board, where we were treated with all the 
kindness possible. She proved to be the brig Rowena, 
Captain Dill, bound to Philadelphia. Thirteen hu- 
man beings were thus preserved from a most awful 
death. On Saturday, came to anchor to the northward 
of Cape May. 

"On Monday morning saw a steamboat coming 
from the southward ; made a signal to her, and she 
came alongside and took us all on board. She was the 
steamer Norwich, Captain Levy, from Norfolk for New 
York. The captain kindly treated us with every thing 
in his power, for which we return him our most heart- 
felt thanks ; and may the Almighty reward him, and 
also the captain of the Rowena, for kindly preserving 
the lives of thirteen human beings, who could not have 
lived twenty-four hours longer in an open boat." 

Names of those in the boat saved. — William Harth, 
Jr., of Charleston, and Theodore Murray, of Brooklyn, 
passengers; Captain John R. Crane, lady and son; 
Mr. Phillips, mate ; Mrs. Kent, wife of the steward ; 
Mrs. Moore, wife of one of the waiters : William Oram, 
waiter : Lydia, stewardess ; and two firemen, names 
unknown. 

Persons left on board. — Mr. Dunscomb, second offi- 
cer, and four seamen ; Daniel Hill, second engineer, 
and four firemen ; John Ashfield, first cook ; the sec- 
ond cook, and Mr. Schneeds, an engineer, for whom 
two whale boats were left on the promenade-deck. 

Mr. Johnson, a merchant of New York, and Mr. 
Kilpatrick, the first engineer, who drifted off in a 
small boat previous to Captain Crane leaving the ves- 
sel, are the only two supposed to be lost. 

As to those left on board, their chance of escape 
was equal, at least, -to that of those who did get away 
in safety. Mr. Kent, the steward of the boat, says 
that when he last saw the ship, those on board were 
preparing the whale boats for launching ; and, as they 

24 



278 STEAMBOAT DISASTERS. 

are proverbially good boats in a heavy sea, there is 
but little doubt they all escaped. 

The Savannah was regarded as one of the strongest 
and best steamers sailing from the port of New York. 
She had been put in complete repair, and fitted up in 
handsome style, previous to her departure on her last 
trip. Captain Crane, her commander, is an experi- 
enced and skilful officer, and well known, some two or 
three years since, as the successful navigator of the 
Stockton, across the Atlantic. 



An Abstract of the Law, relative to the Management 
of Steamboats, passed by the Congress of the 
United States, July 7, 1838. 

In connection with this list of steamboat disas- 
ters, we will give a few brief extracts from the law of 
the United States, respecting the management of " ves- 
sels propelled in whole or in part by steam." It is 
hardly necessary to state that we deem the law to be 
inefficient; and that, till more energetic measures are 
devised and enforced, the mournful catalogue of such 
disasters will be increased. 

" It is hereby enacted. That it shall be the duty of 
the owners and masters of the steamboats licensed in 
pursuance of the provisions of this act, to employ on 
board their respective boats a competent number of 
exerienced and skilful engineers ; and, in case of neg- 
lect to do so, the said owners and masters shall be 
held responsible for all damages to the property or 
any passenger on board of any boat, occasioned by any 
derangement of the engine or machinery of any boat. 

"That, whenever the master of any boat or vessel, 
or the person or persons charged with navigating said 



STEAMBOAT LAW. 279 

boat or vessel, which is • propelled in whole or in part 
by steam, shall stop the motion or headway of said 
boat or vessel, or when the said boat or vessel shall 
be stopped for the purpose of discharging or taking in 
cargo, fuel or passengers, he or they shall open the 
safety-valve, so as to keep the steam down in said 
boiler as near as practicable to what it is when the 
said boat or vessel is under headway, under the pen- 
alty of two hundred dollars for each and every offence. 

"That it shall be the duty of the master and owner 
of every steam vessel, to provide, as a part of the 
necessary furniture, a suction-hose and fire engine 
and hose suitable to be worked on said boat in case 
of fire, and carry the same upon each and every 
voyage, in good order ; and that iron rods or chains 
shall be employed and used in the navigation of 
all steamboats, instead of wheel or tiller ropes ; and 
for a failure to do which, they, and each of them, 
shall forfeit and pay the sum of three hundred dollars. 

" That every captain, engineer, pilot or other per- 
son, employed on board of any steamboat or vessel, 
propelled in whole or in part by steam, by whose mis- 
conduct, negligence, or inattention to his or their re- 
spective duties, the life or lives of any person or per- 
sons on board said vessel may be destroyed, shall be 
deemed guilty of manslaughter, and, upon conviction 
thereof before any circuit court in the United States, 
shall be sentenced to confinement at hard labor for a 
period not more than ten years. 

" That in all suits and actions against proprietors 
of steamboats, for injuries arising to person or property 
from the bursting of the boiler of any steamboat, or 
the collapse of a flue, or other injurious escape of 
steam, the fact of such bursting, collapse, or injurious 
escape of steam, shall be taken as full prima facie evi- 
dence, sufficient to charge the defendant, or those in 
his employment, with negligence, until he shall show 
that no negligence has been committed by him or those 
in his employ." 



LOSS OF THE STEAMER COLUMBIA, 

Which was wrecked upon Black Ledge, Seal 
Island, during a Fog, July 2, 1843, 

The steam-packet ship Columbia, Captain Shannon, 
which vessel left Boston on the 1st of July, 1843, was 
wrecked, on Sunday afternoon, the 2d, during a fog, 
while going at the rate of ten knots, upon Black Ledge, 
near Seal Island light-house. We are much gratified, 
however, at being able to state that all her passengers 
and crew, one hundred and eighty, — among whom was 
Abbot Lawrence, of Boston, with his lady and daugh- 
ter, — got safely on the island, with all their trunks, bag- 
gage, &c, where they were waiting for a steamer from 
Halifax to take them off. Seal Island is a craggy 
rock, in some parts covered with soil, situated about 
twenty-five miles to the westward of Cape Sable, the 
southernmost point of Nova Scotia. It is about twenty 
miles from the nearest land on the continent, — a penin- 
sula, forming the western boundary of Barrington 
Bay. There are only two houses on the island, ex- 
cepting the light-house, and but few inhabitants; 
consequently the accommodations for such a large 
number of persons must be rather primitive ; but there 
is reason to believe that provisions and water have 
been saved from the wreck sufficient to administer to 
their necessities during the short time which they will 
be compelled to remain on the island. 

The navigation in this quarter is very dangerous, 
especially during foggy weather, and the currents are 
uncertain. The soundings, from thirty to forty fath- 
oms,, and quality of the bottom, furnish the only indi- 



LOSS OF THE COLUMBIA. 281 

cations of a vessel's whereabouts, and should not be 
neglected. The loss of the Columbia appears to have 
been entirely owing to this neglect on the part of the 
pilot, or those whose duty it was to look out for the 
safe navigation of the vessel. 

The following letter was received from Lieut. Par- 
sons, the admiralty agent, on board the Columbia, 
giving some interesting details of the disaster : 

" Seal Island, July 4, 2 P. M. 

" Dear Sir— The Columbia left Boston at 2, P. M., 
the 1st of July, with the American mail for Halifax 
and England, with ninety passengers, and a crew of 
eighty in number, making in all from one hundred and 
seventy upwards. Water smooth, but weather very 
foggy. On Sunday, 2d inst., at a quarter past 1, P. M., 
while steaming at the rate of ten knots per hour, 
grounded, and heeled to port, with her bow high up, 
leaving her stern in deep water, having quarter less 
five fathoms depth aft. Observed splinters from the 
false keel and fore-foot alongside. Fired alarm guns, 
which were answered by muskets and the sound of 
fog horns. At 4, P. M., a boat, with the keeper of Seal 
Island Light, came alongside. He informed us that 
we lay on the Black Ledge Reef, and were within a 
mile and a quarter of the island. The fog was dense, 
the wind moderate from S. S. E. As the tide fell, 
pointed rocks, of a sn gar-loaf shape, uncovered to the 
depth of ten feet, and were about ten feet distant from 
the bows. The vessel lay on an inclined plane of 
smooth rocks abreast of her paddles, while her stern 
lay in deep water ; and as she strained heavily, it was 
deemed necessary to land the lady passengers, about 
twenty in number, who, throughout the whole catas- 
trophe, had displayed the utmost fortitude and self- 
possession. 

"Nor did these characteristics desert them when 
placed under the protection of an entire stranger. 
The keeper of Seal Island Light is worthy of all 

24* 



2S2 STEAMBOAT DISASTERS. 

praise for his kindness to the ladies, and indeed to 
us all. 

"On the night tide, having lightened the ship by 
discharging coal, anchors, chains, &c., tried the only 
engine that would work, and hove on our stern an- 
chor; but although she rolled in her bed. she did not 
start an inch. At 5, A. M.. judging, from her distressed 
situation and the falling tides, that our chance of saving 
her was small, landed the mail on Seal Island, and 
got it secured, by the kindness of Mr. Hitchings. the 
light-house keeper. Notwithstanding the kind atten- 
tion of our friends ashore, we found the ladies but 
poorly accommodated, and sadly in want of water. 
Still they were cheerful and resigned. 

u I have to observe that this beautiful sea boat ran 
ashore under the charge of her well-tried pilot, Capt. 
Stairs ; and that the cool, seamanlike conduct of Capt. 
Shannon, his officers and crew, not only excited my 
admiration, but that of all the passengers. They 
labored long and unceasingly to save the vessel, but 
in vain. This excellent steamer, in my opinion, will 
only float in pieces from her present position. 

" We were enabled yesterday to send the intelligence 
to Halifax, and expect the steamer Margaret here to- 
morrow nieht. 

"G. S. Parsons, R. N. 
"To Geo. W. Gordon, Esq., Postmaster, Boston/' 

A letter has also been received from Abbot Law- 
rence, in which he describes the passage from Boston, 
up to the moment of the disaster, although beset with 
fogs, as rather agreeable ; and speaks in the highest 
terms of Captain Shannon, his officers and crew, 
throughout the whole disaster. He communicates 
nothing, that is not contained in the above letter, about 
the vessel's running ashore, except that he expresses 
the opinion that had she been run either to the right 
or left of the place on which she struck, she would 
have gone down, and probably all on board would 
have perished. 



LOSS OF THE COLUMBIA. 283 

" Seal Island, July 2, 1843. 
" My dear Son, — 

" We left Boston at quarter past 2 o'clock on the 1st 
instant, and experienced a most agreeable run till yes- 
terday, at quarter past one, (it being foggy,) the Colum- 
bia struck on the Black Ledge, one and a quarter miles 
distant from this island, at high water. When the 
tide began to ebb, we saw large rocks on the larboard 
side, about ten fathoms distance, and a long reef not a 
cable's length from us. Before half tide down, these 
rocks were four feet above the water. Soon after sIk 
struck, we commenced throwing over coal, which was 
continued through the day. At half past 2 we began 
firing our cannon. In half an hour after, we were an- 
swered by a musket, which relieved us from the most 
painful anxiety, as we were not quite certain where 
we were, and hoped it might be from the land. 

" At 4 o'clock the fog lifted, and we had the inex- 
pressible satisfaction of seeing a fishing schooner mak- 
ing for the ship, with a small boat in tow. The cap- 
tain of the schooner, (Hitchings,) who is the keeper 
of the light-house, came on board and gave us an 
account of our situation, which appeared anything but 
flattering. We soon concluded, as it was evident the 
Columbia was in a rocky berth, that it was prudent to 
take the ladies on shore, (fourteen in number,) besides 
several in the steerage, and five or six children. This 
was accomplished at 6 o'clock, without injury to any 
one ; and here we found two small houses, a mile or 
more distant from each other, inhabited by kind and 
efficient people, who exhibit all the sympathy and care 
we could desire. 

''There are no other inhabitants upon the island, 
which is rough and barren. The nearest main land 
is Barrington, twenty-five miles distant. This morn- 
ing, at high tide, an attempt was made to float the 
ship, which proved unsuccessful, and at half past 2 
the captain requested the passengers (fifty in number) 
who remained on board, to go on shore — about forty 



284 STEAMBOAT DISASTERS. 

having landed last evening. The passengers are now 
all on shore, and one half the baggage. The mails 
are all here, and the remaining part of the baggage 
will be received in the course of an hour. 

" The opinion is now that the ship will be lost. 
She is very much strained, and has heeled over con- 
siderably. We have ninety-five passengers and sev- 
enty-three officers, crew, &c., belonging to the ship; in 
all one hundred and sixty-eight souls. The captain has 
conducted himself with great coolness and courage, 
and displayed that energy and magnanimity that be- 
long to his notable profession. And now, having no 
more time to write, I have only to say that I deem our 
preservation extraordinary, — twenty yards on either 
side of the ship, with a moderate breeze, would have 
consigned us all to a watery grave. 

"Through the mercy of Almighty God, we have 
all been spared, living monuments of his protecting 
care; and we and you, and all our friends, should 
offer up to our Heavenly Father the homage of grate- 
ful hearts, for this signal instance of his sparing 
mercy. The ladies and all the passengers have con- 
ducted themselves in a manner that should command 
our admiration. We shall send an express to Halifax 
for a steamer, which, I suppose, is nearly two hundred 
miles, — we being now about two hundred and forty 
miles from Boston. We have provisions enough for 
the present, and can make ourselves tolerably com- 
fortable, under the circumstances in which we are 
placed. 

"In great haste, I remain, with the truest affection, 

Abbot Lawrence." 



RAILROAD ACCIDENTS. 



PORTSMOUTH AND ROANOKE RAILROAD. 
August 11, 1837. 

A passenger train of cars was run into by a lumber 
train on the Portsmouth and Roanoke Railroad, in 
Virginia, August 11, 1837, — by which ocurrence sev- 
eral lives were lost, and many were maimed and oth- 
erwise wounded. The following particulars were 
published at the time : — 

"The daily train left Portsmouth on Friday, Au- 
gust 11, at 8 o'clock, with thirteen passenger and 
other cars, and nearly two hundred passengers, — the 
greater portion of whom composed a party of pleasure 
who had been on a steamboat excursion, and were re- 
turning to their homes. The train having made its 
usual stop at Suffolk, had proceeded on to Smith's 
Bridge, a high embankment over Goodwin's Landing, 
a mile and a half beyond. Here there is a gradual 
rise in the road, and at the termination of the embank- 
ment the road makes a curve. But, before we proceed 
farther, we should state that there was a lumber train 
then on its way down, with fifteen cars heavily laden 
with staves, which must necessarily pass the passen- 



288 PORTSMOUTH AND ROANOKE RAILROAD. 

ger train at one of the turn-outs above Suffolk. 
When the locomotive of the passenger cars had reached 
the curve, and while the whole train was on the 
embankment, (which at that place is a greater eleva- 
tion than at any other on the whole line, being thirty- 
five feet high,) the lumber train suddenly appeared in 
sight, sweeping down the curve. 

" The engineer of the passenger train promptly 
stopped the locomotive, but he of the lumber train was 
either unable, owing to its being on a descent, to stop 
his, or did not see the danger in time ; for his engine 
drove furiously on against that of the passenger train, 
forcing it back upon the first car, which was driven 
against the second, and the second against the third, 
and the two latter were crushed to pieces in the dread- 
ful concussion. The greatest havoc, however, was in 
the second car, the first having been lifted from the 
rails and propelled over it, raking, as it were, fore 
and aft, and crushing to death, or horribly maiming, 
the passengers who remained within it. We must 
leave it to the imagination of the reader to depict the 
horrors of that awful moment, and of the scene which 
ensued. Many who were young and active, leaped 
from the cars and rolled down the embankment at 
the hazard of life and limb. A gentleman, who was 
casually seated next to a young lady in the second 
car, saw the coming death, and warned his fellow- 
passengers of it, — he could do no more, — and then 
sprang down the embankment. As soon as he was 
upon his feet, he looked up, — it was all over : she 
who had sat behind him, within the passing moment, 
lay a mangled corpse upon the seat which he had 
left. 

"The names of those killed were, Miss Elizabeth Mc- 
Clenny; Miss Margaret Roberts; and Miss Jemima 
Ely, daughter of Mrs. Martha Ely, who was with her 
at the time, and was herself dreadfully injured. 



RAILROAD ACCIDENTS. 289 

" Among those who were dangerously wounded 
were : — 

Miss McCluny, Mr. Rees Phelps, 

William Daughtry, Mrs. Story, 

Mrs. Martha Ely, Mrs. Meredith Watkins, 

Miss Eliza Holland, Mr. Wiley Watkins, 

Miss Martha Holland, Mrs. Wiley Watkins, and 
Mr. James M. Holland, child and servant. 

"The accident occurred within a hundred yards of 
the residence of Mr. Richard Goodwin, where the 
dead and wounded were carried. From this hospita- 
ble family the unfortunate sufferers received every 
attention that could be bestowed. Mr. Goodwin's 
house presented the appearance of a hospital. Every 
room was filled with beds containing the injured, 
whose cries and groans were heard afar off. Under 
the large shed of his turpentine factory lay the bodies 
of the deceased young ladies, surrounded by their 
mourning relatives and friends. Two of these young 
ladies were soon to have entered the married state. 
The accepted of one of them was by her side when 
the death-blow came upon her, and he could have 
escaped unhurt by leaping from the car, which he re- 
fused to do unless he could save her. He remained 
in his seat, therefore, and received such injury as he 
will probably never recover from. The young gen- 
tleman to whom the other was engaged came to the 
scene a few hours after the accident had occurred, and 
by the expression of his grief too well told the wounds 
of his heart." 

An inquest was held on the three deceased young 
ladies, whose verdict is subjoined : 

"We, the jury, are of the opinion that the deceased 
came to their deaths by the violent concussion of the 
lumber train coming in contact with the regular train j 
which concussion was occasioned by the wilful mis- 
management and gross negligence of the captain and 
engineer of the lumber train, by running down a rapid 
descent on a curve of said road, with great velocity, 

25 



290 PORTSMOUTH AND ROANOKE RAILROAD. 

at a time when they might reasonably have expected 
to meet the regular train. " 

" Another fatal accident happened the same day. 
When the directors and physicians left the engine, it 
returned to Suffolk for wood and water, propelling 
before it the coach in which they had come up. The 
night was dark, and a heavy rain falling, so that no 
look-out could be kept on the road. When within 
about a hundred yards of the watering place, the 
coach and engine passed over Mr. James Woodward, 
and Mr. Richard Oliver, two citizens of the neighbor- 
hood, who were walking on the track. The former 
was killed instantaneously, and the latter was so 
badly injured that recovery was long considered 
doubtful. This accident was wholly unavoidable, — 
the engineer could not see, through the darkness, 
(having the passenger-coach before him,) that the 
unfortunate men were in his way ; and they, by the 
same cause, together with the pattering of a heavy 
shower of rain falling at the time, were rendered un- 
conscious of the approach of the train, until they were 
struck down. 

" The disasters of the day were stated as follows : — 
four were killed; thirteen were severely wounded; 
and upwards of thirty were slightly injured." 



December 10, 1837. 

On the 10th of December following, on the same 
railroad, the train of cars, on its return from Halifax, 
met with another accident. The train consisted of a 
large number of passenger and baggage cars. These 
last were put in the rear of the passenger cars. In 
their progress they encountered the end of one of the 
iron rails, the spike or bolt of which had started, or 



RAILROAD ACCIDENTS. 291 

the head rusted off, so that the end projected above 
the level of the road. It is stated that the inequality- 
was so slight that the wheels would have readily- 
passed over it, but it was caught by a strong iron 
fender which travelled before the wheel, and bent up ; 
and consequently the engine was thrown off the track. 
The headway of the passenger-cars being thus stop- 
ped, they were run into by the burden-cars. Two 
persons were killed, and eight others were severely 
injured. 



LOWELL AND NASHUA RAILROAD. 
July 5, 1841. 

A serious accident happened on the Lowell and 
Nashua railroad, on Monday, July 5, which day was 
celebrated as the anniversary of American Indepen- 
dence. We give the particulars we have been able to 
gather. In consequence of the great number of per- 
sons at Nashua, on that day, who were desirous of 
getting to Lowell by the last downward train of cars, 
the superintendent at Nashua directed a conductor of 
one of the trains down, to inform the superintendent at 
Lowell that he must not send up the last upward train 
as usual. But by some neglect, this information did 
not reach the superintendent at Lowell, and the train 
was sent up. The consequence was, that just as the 
cars were going round a bend in the road, at great 
speed, they came full in contact with the downward 
train, breaking the engine, and severely wounding 
four individuals, — one of whom, it was thought, 
would not survive the accident. 



BOSTON AND PROVIDENCE RAILROAD. 
June 29, 1836. 

On the 29th of June, as a train of eleven cars was 
passing the cut in Roxbury, where the railroad crosses 
the Tremont road, it was met by a locomotive with a 
single merchandise car, for Dedham, which was going 
at a very rapid rate. The two locomotives came in 
contact with a terrible crash, and the two forward 
cars of the Providence train were shattered to pieces, 
and most of the passengers thrown out on either side. 
There were about three hundred passengers, including 
one hundred and twenty United States' seamen, on 
their way, with their officers, to join the sloop of war 
Boston. 

The seamen were in the two forward cars, their 
officers being in the second. Past midshipman Russ 
was severely bruised, and was taken from beneath 
the fragments of the cars. Eight of the seamen were 
also much hurt, and Mr. William Trask, the fireman 
attached to the engine, had his leg broken, having 
jumped ofT before the engines came in contact. The 
other passengers were thrown against each other and 
considerably bruised. 

The cars were so much shattered that the engine of 
the Providence train backed up nearly to the third 
one, and it was with difficulty that pieces of the bro- 
ken cars could be found sufficiently large to form lit- 
ters for those most seriously hurt. The locomotives 
were so firmly interlocked that iron bars were used to 
separate them. 

The blame of the accident was justly attributed to 
the engineer of the Providence train. It was clearly 



RAILROAD ACCIDENTS. 293 

shown that he was alone in fault; and he was 
promptly discharged from the service of the com- 
pany. 

We copy the following remarks, as published at 
the time : — 

" From all the circumstances as yet known to the 
public, it appears that the terrible accident which oc- 
curred on the Providence railroad was the result of 
gross carelessness, or, what is equally as bad, reckless 
daring. It seems that the engineer of the Providence 
train neglected to stop at the usual turn-out, for the 
Dedham train to pass, in the hope that he might be 
able to reach the depot before the Dedham train start- 
ed. This, however, is no excuse for his conduct : he 
knew very well the hour at which the Dedham train 
would start, and he had no right to presume that he 
could reach the depot before that hour. It was his 
duty to stop at the turn-out until the train had passed, 
and not risk the lives of three or four hundred passen- 
gers on his presumptive ability to perform an unusual 
trip. 

" We think such accidents may always be avoided, 
if proper precautions are adopted; and, in the absence 
of such precautions, there can be no doubt that the 
proprietors of the road are liable, as common carriers, 
for all injuries received by passengers, whether of life, 
limb, or property. A full investigation of this acci- 
dent is due to all parties concerned, and we trust that 
the public will not be satisfied without it. The 
superior manner in which all railroads and steam- 
boats are managed in England, renders passengers 
almost perfectly secure against the occurrence of such 
disasters. There is no reason why the same business 
should not be equally well managed here, and the 
same precaution adopted against an unnecessary ex- 
posure." 

25* 



NEW JERSEY RAILROAD. 

August 16, 1837, 

As the Orange train of cars was coming into New- 
ark, August 16, one of the cars ran off the rails. Two 
of the gentlemen passengers, Mr. Ward, of Newark, 
and Mr. Crane, of Orange, jumped out, and were run 
over. The latter lived about two hours, while the 
former was killed instantaneously. 



CAMDEN AND AMBOY RAILROAD. 

March 2, 1836. 

In a dense fog, the lumber cars from Camden met 
the passenger cars about three miles above Burling- 
ton, when the locomotives came in contact, heads on, 
producing, as may well be imagined, a tremendous 
crash. The fog, it is said, shut the two trains from 
the view of each other until they were about four 
hundred yards apart. The lumber cars were stopped, 
or nearly so, but the passenger cars came full on, 
with retarded speed, it ; is true, but only so much as 
could be procured by a few yards of distance. The 
pause in the lumber cars, and the backward motion 
given to them by the action of the opposite train, to- 
gether with the mounting up of both locomotives in 
front, like two dogs in a fight, and the baggage cars 
of the passenger train being thrown upon their rear 



RAILROAD AT BRIDGEPORT, CONN. 295 

with their fronts downward, saved all hands from 
consequences which cannot nowbe known. By these 
actions the cars with their passengers were saved from 
a tremendous crash. The engineers and firemen 
sprang oifat the moment of the concussion, and saved 
themselves. The passengers were electrified, and a 
bruise here and there betokened that a shock of no 
slight nature had occurred. The locomotives were 
broken into many pieces. The passengers speak of 
their rampant posture, as exhibiting a very singular 
appearance. Breast to breast, they seemed to be in 
deadly strife, under the impulse of deadly hate. 

Some of the passengers footed it to Burlington; 
others were brought in sleighs ; some remained at a 
farm-house hard by ; whilst others lingered about the 
ruins. 

A despatch was sent to Camden, and another to 
Bordentown. By half-past 5 o'clock, the train was 
brought to Burlington. At 6, it was in motion again, 
and at 7, all hands were landed in safety at Camden, 
— whence, on the ice, some on foot, and some in boats 
pushed on the ice, they reached the city. 



RAILROAD AT BRIDGEPORT, CONN. 
March 15, 1840. 

From a gentleman who was present, we have 
learned the following particulars relative to the acci- 
dent that occurred on the railroad, at the celebration 
of its opening : — 

" On Thursday, March 14, a celebration of the 
completion of our railroad commenced. About four 
hundred persons went up to New Milford. On Fri- 
day, the company returned to Bridgeport, and a din- 
tier was provided at the Sterling hotel. On the arri- 



296 RAILROAD ACCIDENTS. 

val of the cars, the brakeman mistook his duty, and 
allowed the cars, twelve or fourteen in number, to run 
full speed directly off the end of the track. A quan- 
tity of rubbish, and a great, pile of steamboat wood, 
brought them up with a great concussion. Several of 
the cars were smashed. One of the brakemen had 
his thigh broken, and another was very badly injured. 
Mr. Peck, of Newtown, had a thigh broken, and one 
ringer cut off. Mr. Kellogg, of Canaan, had a thigh, 
arm and wrist broken ; and several others were more 
or less injured. Eight doctors were in attendance, 
who were occupied about four hours in dressing the 
wounds. None of the wounded are considered in a 
dangerous state. This disaster, of course, destroyed 
the hilarity of the occasion." 



COLUMBIA RAILROAD, OHIO. 
October 2, 1836. 

A most melancholy accident occurred on the Co- 
lumbia railroad, on Saturday afternoon, Oct. 2. In 
the forward passenger car was a number of persons ; 
among others, Mrs. Gibson and family, of Philadelphia, 
bound to Cincinnati. The axle of the car unfortu- 
nately broke, and let the body down upon the road, 
by which a large hole was forced through the car, and 
Mrs. Gibson and child, by some means, were dragged 
through to the ground, and nearly the whole train 
passed over her body, crushing it in a most shocking 
manner, and leaving her a lifeless corpse. The child 
miraculously escaped death, although much bruised. 
A black man, who leaped from the car, was so much 
injured that it was believed that he could not survive. 
A gentleman had his arm broken, and was otherwise 
injured. 



COLUMBIA RAILROAD, OHIO. 297 

From a gentleman, who was among the passengers, 
we have received the following particulars : — 

"We arrived at Hollidaysburg about 12 o'clock, 
Thursday night. On Friday morning, we took the 
cars to cross the Alleghany mountains. The railroad 
over the mountains is thirty-eight miles, including the 
inclined planes and levels. There are ten planes, five 
ascending and five descending, which are each little 
less than a quarter of a mile in length. The morning 
was very cold, being in the early part of October. 
There are three lines of boats on the route from Phil- 
adelphia to Pittsburg, starting at the same time, which 
occasions some racing on the canal. We were fortu- 
nate in being beaten, by which another line, arriving 
first at the summit of the mountain, took the first train 
of cars on the seventh plane, at 6 o'clock in the morn- 
ing. The descent is regulated by a stationary engine 
on the top of the plane; the cars are attached to a 
large rope which runs between the rails by smaller 
ones. 

" When they had proceeded about one fourth part of 
the way down, one of the small ropes gave way, and 
the whole train ran like lightning to the foot of the 
plane, coming in contact with other cars which were 
on the level below. One passenger car and a bag- 
gage car were stove to pieces; trunks, boxes, &c, 
were strewn about as if an explosion of gunpowder 
had taken place. There were twenty or thirty per- 
sons wounded ; five or six were left in a small house 
at the side of the mountain. One of the sufferers was 
an old man, seventy years of age; another, about 
thirty years old, had made his will just before we 
arrived there ; a young woman lay near, with her head 
horribly cut and bruised, and near her, her little girl 
lay insensible. I believe none of them had friends 
near. If we had been first at the mountain, we 
should probably have suffered the fate that befel them. 

" No satisfactory account was given as to the occa- 
sion of the accident. I believe it was said that frost 



298 - RAILROAD ACCIDENTS. 

on the rails was the only reason that could be given. 
The cause must have been the carelessness of the 
conductors in attaching the smaller rope too slightly 
to the main one, which became loosened as soon as 
the weight of the train drew upon it. We arrived at 
Pittsburg at 9 o'clock in the evening, making, on the 
whole, rather a pleasant journey, although the travel- 
ling on the canal is tedious." 



EXPLOSION ON THE HARLAEM RAILROAD, 
In the city of New York, July 4, 1839. 

About 10 o'clock in the morning of July 4, the 
steam engine which comes into the city with the cars 
for Harlaem, run off the track opposite Union Park. 

The steam was already generated to excess, but, 
unfortunately, the engineer neglected to blow it off. 
It is also supposed that water had not been taken in 
properly at the stopping place. 

When the engine had thus run off the track, a num- 
ber of the passengers, mostly mechanics, lent their 
services to get it on again. While thus surrounded, 
the boiler burst. The chief engineer was blown to 
pieces. His legs went into Union Park, his arms on 
to a pile of lumber on the other side of the avenue, 
and his head was split, in two parts. His abdomen 
was also burst, and his intestines scattered over the 
road. 

The assistant engineer had both his legs broken, 
and his head, face, and breast dreadfully scalded. He 
only lived a few moments. Another of the unfortu- 
nate persons employed, Philip W. Case, was danger 
ously wounded. The names of the other victims 
were Johnson and Spencer, and Roderick Matheson, 
the latter being severely scalded on his legs, and his 



HARLAEM RAILROAD, NEW YORK. 



299 



face dreadfully lacerated by pebbles and sand being 
blown into it. Besides these, there were fifteen or six- 
teen other persons wounded or scalded. The frag- 
ments of the boiler were thrown in every direction, 
and the machinery of the engine was entirely de^ 
stroyed. 




Explosion of a locomotive on the Harlaem railroad. 

Immediately after the accident, there was observed 
a disposition on the part of a number of Irishmen, who 
were under the influence of liquor, to create a riot. 
Some were for marching in a body to destroy the 
depots of the company. Others insisted that the cars 
should be prevented from passing over the spot, and 
actually laid hold of the horses to carry out their pur- 
pose. Everything, in fact, that could be done, was 
done by a number of disorderly persons to make the 
results of this lamentable affair still more disastrous. 

The foregoing particulars were extracted from the 
papers of the day. From other sources of the like 
nature we gather the following additional account :— 



300 RAILROAD ACCIDENTS. 

"We cannot refrain, in this place, from awarding 
to Alderman Tieman the highest praise. But for his 
coolness, forbearance, judgment, and firmness, it is 
probable that a very serious riot would have occurred. 
So unreasonable a set of men we never before saw 
collected. Rum and excitement had destroyed the 
little self-command the low Irish at any time possess. 

"From a passenger, we are sorry to learn that the 
persons killed were both in a state of intoxication, and 
that, by the most common prudence, all this might have 
been averted. It is even supposed that the engine was 
thrown off the track for a frolic. Surely this ought 
to be a lesson to the company, and compel them to 
employ trustworthy men in offices where not only the 
]imbs, but the lives of our fellow-citizens are at 
stake, as well as the peace of the city placed in jeop- 
ardy." 

In relation to the accident on the Harlaem railroad, 
the following are authentic particulars : — 

" 1st. The locomotive engine was in charge of Mr. 
Spencer, one of the oldest and most experienced engi- 
neers in the country, who has been employed on the 
Long Island and other railroads, as engineer, for many 
years, and was thoroughly acquainted with the use of 
the locomotive engine. 

"2d. The locomotive had brought up a train of 
cars from Harlaem for the city, which was taken by 
the horses to the city hall and Walker street ; and, 
after they had gone forward, the locomotive was 
crossing the switch to prepare to receive the return line 
of cars, so that it was quite alone, and wholly dis- 
connected with the cars at the time it ran off the 
track. 

" 3d. As soon as the locomotive was off the track, 
Mr. Whigham, the superintendent of the company, 
and several others in the employ of the company, set 
immediately at work to replace it upon the track. 
During this time the engineer was upon the engine, 
and constantly blowing off the steam. It had been 



NEW YORK AND HARLAEM. 301 

stationary for about twenty minutes, while the men 
were at work to replace it, the superintendent giving 
repeated instructions to the engineer to take care of his 
steam. He was answered by Mr. Spencer that he was 
doing so; and he was constantly blowing off the 
steam. At this time the train of cars was approach- 
ing the spot from the city, as also the train from Har- 
laem, and when the engine blew up, both trains were 
in sight ; but, fortunately, so far distant as to escape any 
injury. 

" 4th. At the instant it blew up, Mr. Whigham and 
one of the collectors of the company were stooping 
down to place a stone under the frame, so as to get a 
lever by which to raise the engine about an inch 
higher, to get the wheels upon the track ; and they 
both escaped with very slight injury, as the whole 
blew over their heads, while it killed Mr. Spencer, the 
engineer, and his brother-in-law — the only two per- 
sons who were killed on the spot. Five others were 
severely wounded by the fragments, and one of the 
collectors of. the company scalded from head to foot. 

" The limit by the corporation for the locomotive to 
come into the city, is at 14th street. It is only on the 
gala day of the fourth of July, that the engine comes 
below 32d street, — the horses of the company on that 
day being insufficient to accommodate the public, — and 
it was solely to grant the greatest facility to the 
public, that the locomotive was brought to 15th 



This, if we recollect aright, is the first explosion of 
the boiler of a locomotive, by which human life has 
been sacrificed. 

The modern construction of locomotive tubular 
boilers, has rendered them liable to explosion only by 
gross mismanagement ; and even in case of accident 
the explosion is generally only a partial one of a tube, 
or flue, so that no serious evil is to be anticipated. 
The wretched men whose recklessness produced this 

26 



302 RAILROAD ACCIDENTS. 

horrible catastrophe, have been victims to their own 
fault, and were sent to their account. But what shall 
atone for the agony caused to the families and friends 
of the innocent sufferers? 



PHILADELPHIA AND GERMANTOWN RAIL- 
ROAD. 

Upon the Philadelphia, Norristown, and German- 
town railroad, there have been three persons killed, 
since its commencement in 1832; two of them lost 
their lives by attempting to enter the cars when they 
were in motion. The third was run over by the en- 
gine, in attempting to cross the road in a wagon when 
the engine was approaching, and himself and horse 
killed. 



BOSTON AND WORCESTER RAILROAD. 
November 30, 1839, 

A distressing accident occurred on the Boston and 
Worcester railroad, at Framingham, on Saturday, Nov. 
30, the particulars of which are thus given in a letter 
from the agent of the corporation : 

Framingham, Nov. 30, 1839. 
" I am grieved to say that our gravel train, in com- 
ing into the depot this forenoon, ran over Mr. Aaron 
Pratt, a worthy citizen of this village. Four of the 
;ars passed over his body, and he was instantly killed. 
Mr. Pratt was 75 years old, and vefy deaf. The 
train was moving slowly, and within two hundred 
feet of its stopping place. The engine man noticed 



PHILADELPHIA AND COLUMBIA. 303 

him, but supposed he would step out of the way in 
season to preserve himself from danger. When that 
became doubtful, the brake was applied, the engine 
being previously reversed, and every effort made to 
stop the cars, and to alarm the man; but he did not 
hear or notice the train until it was nearly upon him, 
and then, in his effort to escape, he fell across the 
rail." 

Another account says, " He was standing between 
the rails, near the depot, watching apparently a man 
sawing wood, and being deaf, he heard not the rapidly 
approaching train. He was, however, called to by sev- 
eral persons, but instead of turning his eyes towards 
the train, he turned in the opposite direction, and the 
next moment it was upon him. He was thrown across 
the rail, and several of the heavily laden cars passed 
over his body, cutting him almost completely through. 
Some of the cars were thrown from the track, and two 
of them broken to pieces." 



PHILADELPHIA AND COLUMBIA RAILROAD. 

The locomotives in use upon this railroad have col- 
lapsed their flues a number of times, though without 
doing any damage. Accidents to passengers have fre- 
quently occurred. In one instance, upon this road, 
there were three persons killed by the breaking of an 
axle of one of the cars, which was caused by the rapid 
rate at which they were then running. Other acci- 
dents have happened to persons, from want of care 
and attention on the part of themselves and the engi- 
neers, of w T hich we have not been able to learn the 
particulars. 



304 RAILROAD ACCIDENTS. 

WESTERN RAILROAD. 
January 17, 1840. 

As the train of passenger cars from Worcester to 
Springfield, left the West Brookfield depot, Jan. 17, 
they came in contact with Mr. Hale Young, of North 
Brookfield, who was driving his horse, attached to a 
sleigh, at the crossing of the roads about a mile from 
the depot. Mr. Young was instantly killed, his sleigh 
dashed in pieces, and his horse so badly injured that 
it was found necessary to kill him, although he ran 
on the railroad to the West Brookfield depot, after the 
accident. 

The circumstances are briefly these : — " The two 
roads run quite near each other, for a considerable 
distance, before and after crossing. Mr. Young was 
going towards Warren, and, just as he came to the 
crossing, he was about to meet a party of twelve or 
thirteen sleighs from that place. He turned to the 
right, directly on the track of the railroad, between 
two banks of snow, and then stopped. The next mo- 
ment the cars were upon him, although the bell was 
Tinging, the conductors shouting, and the engine re- 
versed. His face was muffled up, and he did not ap- 
pear to hear any of the alarms. 

" The train soon stopped, and the conductors and 
many of the passengers came back to the spot, where 
they found Mr. Young on the track, his brains liter- 
ally dashed out — probably done by one or more of the 
wheels passing over the back part of his head. No 
blame is attached to any of the persons having the 
management of the train, as, from the moment he ap- 
peared on the track, every available method was re- 
sorted to, to warn him of his danger, and also to stop 
the train. 

"The notice over the crossing cannot be made too 
public, ' Look out for the engine while the bell rings.' " 



SHIPWRECKS 



AND 



OTHER DISASTERS AT SEA 



WRECK OF THE BARQUE MEXICO, 

On Hempstead Beach, Long Island, January 2, 
1837,— by which Melancholy Occurrence, One 
Hundred and Eight Lives were lost. 

The barque Mexico, Captain Winslow, sailed from 
Liverpool on the 25 th of October, 1836, having on board 
a crew of twelve men and one hundred and four pas- 
sengers, — in all, one hundred and sixteen souls. She 
made the Highland Lights on Saturday night, Decem- 
ber 31, at 11 o'clock, and on Sunday morning was off 
the bar, with thirty or more square-rigged vessels — all 
having signals flying for pilots, but not a pilot was 
there in sight. The Mexico continued standing off 
and on the Hook till midnight, and at dark she and 
the whole fleet of ships displayed lanterns from their 
yards, for pilots. Still no pilot came. At midnight 
the wind increased to a violent gale from the north- 
west. The barque was no longer able to hold to wind- 
ward, and was blown off a distance of some fifty miles. 
At this time, six of the crew were badly frost-bitten, 
and the captain, mate, and two seamen were all that 



308 SHIPWRECKS AND OTHER DISASTERS. 

were left able to hand and reef the sails. On Monday 
morning, at 11 o'clock, standing in shore, they made 
the southern end of the Woodlands, when she was 
wore round and headed to the north, under a close- 
reefed main-topsail, reefed foresail, two-reefed trysail 
and fore-staysail. At 4 o'clock the next morning, the 
mate took a cast of the lead, and reported to Captain 
Winslow that he had fifteen fathoms water. Suppos- 
ing from the soundings, as laid down on the chart, 
that with this depth of water, he could still stand on 
two hours with safety, the captain gave orders to that 
effect, and was the more induced to do it, as the crew 
were in so disabled a state, and the weather so in- 
tensely cold, that it was impossible for any one to 
remain on deck longer than half an hour at a time. 
The event has shown that the information given by 
the mate, as to the depth of water, was incorrect : 
his error probably arising from the lead line being 
frozen stiff at the time it was cast. 

Fifteen minutes afterwards, the ship struck the bot- 
tom, twenty miles east of Sandy Hook, at Hempstead 
Beach, and not more than a cable's length from the 
shore. The scene that ensued on board, we leave to 
the reader's imagination. For one hour and three 
quarters she continued thumping heavily, without 
making any water, the sea, however, breaking con- 
tinually over her. Her rudder was now knocked off, 
and the captain ordered the mainmast cut away. The 
boats were then cleared, the long-boat hoisted out, and 
veered away under her bows with a stout hawser, for 
the purpose of filling it with passengers, letting it drift 
within the reach of the people who crowded the beach, 
then hauling her back again, and thus saving the un- 
fortunate people on board; but this intention was frus- 
trated by the parting of the hawser, which snapped 
like a thread as soon as the boat was exposed to the 
heaving surf. The yawl was next got alongside, and 
stove to pieces almost instantly. 

At 7 o'clock the same morning, the ship bilged and 



WRECK OF THE MEXICO. 309 

filled with water. Orders followed from the captain 
to cut away the foremast, and that every soul on board 
should come on deck. In inexpressible agony they 
thus remained until 4 o'clock in the afternoon, when 
a boat was launched from the beach, and succeeded 
in getting under the bowsprit of the wreck. This boat 
took off Captain Winslow and seven men, and suc- 
ceeded in reaching the shore with them in safety. 
The attempt, however, was attended with such im- 
minent danger, that none could be induced to repeat 
it. And now, the horrors of the scene were indescrib- 
able. Already had the sufferings of the unhappy 
beings been such as to surpass belief. From the mo- 
ment of the disaster, they had hung round the captain, 
covered with their blankets, thick-set with ice, implor- 
ing his assistance, and asking if hope was still left for 
them. When they perceived that no further help came 
from the land, their piercing shrieks were distinctly 
heard at a considerable distance, and continued through 
the night, until they one by one perished. The next 
morning the bodies of many of the unhappy creatures 
were seen lashed to different parts of the wreck, im- 
bedded in ice. None, it is believed, were drowned, but 
all frozen to death. Of the one hundred and four pas- 
sengers, two thirds were women and children. 

It is but justice to the people on shore to say, that 
everything was done to save the unfortunates, that 
their means permitted. The only boat which boarded 
the vessel was hauled at a distance of ten miles, and 
was manned by an old man and six others, four or five 
of whom were the old man's sons and grandsons. For 
thirty-five years has he been living on the seashore, 
during which time, he has rendered assistance to nu- 
merous wrecks, and never before has he or his com- 
rades shrunk from the surf; but, in addition to its 
violence on the present occasion, such was the extreme 
cold, that a second attempt to rescue was more than 
they dared venture — it would inevitably have proved 
fatal to them. 



310 SHIPWRECKS AND OTHER DISASTERS. 

Everything of detail connected with the Mexico, 
and the frightful loss of lives upon our coast, is not 
without its melancholy interest, and, therefore, we 
publish the minutest account we have yet seen, fur- 
nished from the best authority. 

We extract the following from the minutes of 
Amos Gore, one of the district marshals of New 
York:— 

"January 8, 1837, arrived at the wreck of the 
Mexico. She had left Liverpool with one hundred 
and twelve passengers, and crew consisting of Captain 
Winslow, his mate and nine persons, and the lad 
Broom, brother to the merchant. Left Liverpool on 
the 22d of October, 1836 — was wrecked on the 2d of 
January, 1837. Was boarded by Raynor R. Smith, 
his two sons and four others, in all seven persons, 
about 2 o'clock, P. M. When Smith first saw the 
barque ashore, his boat was aground, and he immedi- 
ately got help to launch her. She was about two miles 
from the beach. He then proceeded to board the Mex- 
ico, and after three attempts, he succeeded in catching 
a small chain which hung from the ends of her bow- 
sprit, and desired the passengers to come on the flying 
jib-boom to get in the boat. The cook was the first 
who obeyed the command, and fell in the boat, followed 
by one of the sailors. Another attempted to do so, and 
was thrown on one side into the water, and immedi- 
ately sunk out of sight. One other person falling into 
the boat on her gunnel, caused Smith to lose his hold, 
and in a moment his boat was carried by the surf 
about twenty feet, where they discovered a man strug- 
gling ; he was seized by Zopher Smith and dragged 
into the boat. The father was then entreated by the 
sons not to return. At that moment Captain Winslow 
hailed the boat, and the elder Smith insisted on return- 
ing, saying, ' If we get the captain, he will be able to 
tell the story.' They consented, and after three des- 
perate attempts he succeeded in catching the same 
chain. The captain then came on the bowsprit, lead- 



WRECK OF THE MEXICO. 



311 



ing the lad Broom, and he threw Broom into the boat 
on the gunnel, at which time the other persons, making 
in all eight, got into the boat. The whole number of 
bodies found was forty-six, — three of whom were car- 
ried to New York. The remainder of the bodies were 
taken up to Lott's tavern, about five miles from the 
beach, and buried on the Wednesday succeeding the 
disaster." 

The following is a list of the passengers, from the 
custom-house passenger list ; arranged in alphabetical 
order : — 



Thomas Anderton, 
Ellen Anderton, 
Joseph Arford, 
Margaret Barret, 
Joseph Barret, 
Joseph Brooks, 
John Blanchard, 
Isabella Ballentine, 
Bridget Brenman, 
Terence Burns, 
William Babington, 
Samuel Blackburn, 
Samuel Blackburn, 
Andrew Boyd, 
Catherine Collier, 
Myers Carpenter, 
Margaret Carpenter, 
Mary Carpenter, 
Mary Carpenter, 
Margaret Dolen, 
Bernard Devine, 
Patrick Devine, 
Bridget Devine, 
Owen Durilla, 
Mary Dulaney, 
Thomas Dryer, 
Charles Dolan, 
William Evans, 



Margaret Evans, 
George Evans, 
William Evans, 
Margaret Evans, 
John Evans, 
James' Ellsworth, 
Martha Ellsworth, 
Thomas Ellis, 
Bridget Farrel, 
Catharine Gallagan, 
John Hays, 
Mary Hays, 
Joanna Hays, 
John Hays, 
James Handlen, 
Mary Higgens, 
John Harnden, 
Rose Hughes, 
Thomas Hope, 
Mary Hope, 
William Hope, 
Frederick Hope, 
Thomas Hope, 
Henry Hope, 
John Irvin, 
William Irvin, 
Charles Irvin, 
Lewis Irvin, 



312 



SHIPWRECKS AND OTHER DISASTERS. 



Hannah Irvin, 

Bridget Kerr, 
Maria Kerr, 
Elizabeth Lawrence, 
James Lawrence, 
Catherine Lawrence, 
John Leonard, 
Matthew Martin, 
Bartholomew McGlenn, 
Sally McGuire, 
Mary Metcalf, 
Barbara Metcalf, 
Harriet Metcalf, 
Elizabeth Metcalf, 
Emanuel Metcalf, 
Mary McCaffey, 
Martha Mooney, 
Thomas Mulrue, 
Thomas Mulligan, 
Michael Murray, 
Ellen Nolan, 
Richard Owens, 
William Pepper, 
Judith Pepper, 
Joseph Pepper, 
William Pepper, 
Rebecca Pepper, 
David Pepper, 



Miriam Pepper, 
John Pepper, 
Peter Rice, 
John Reily, 
William Robertson, 
Catherine Ross, 
Edward Smith, 
Mary Smith, 
Elizabeth Smith, 
Robert Smith, 
William Smith, 
John Sullivan, 
Bridget Sullivan, 
James Thompson, 
Lydia Thompson, 
David Thompson, 
Eleanor Tieruly, 
John Wilson, 
Mary Wilson, 
James Wilson, 
Elizabeth Wilson, 
Thomas Wilson, 
Margaret Wilson, 
John Wood, 
John Write, 
Bridget Write, 
Nicholas Write, 
Catherine Write. 



The following extract of a letter, written by a gen- 
tleman in New York to a friend, gives an affecting 
description of the appearance, after death, of the un- 
fortunate individuals who perished in the Mexico. 

"On reaching Hempstead, I concluded to go some- 
what off the road, to look at the place where the ship 
Mexico was cast away. In half an hour, we came to 
Lott's tavern, some four or five miles this side of the 
beach where the ship lay; and there, in his barn, had 
been deposited the bodies of the ill-fated passengers, 
which had been thrown upon the shore. I went out 
to the barn. The doors were open, and such a scene 



WRECK OF THE MEXICO. 313 

as presented itself to my view, I certainly never could 
have contemplated. It was a dreadful, a frightful 
scene of horror. 

" Forty or fifty bodies, of all ages and sexes, were 
lying promiscuously before me over the floor, all frozen, 
and as solid as marble, and all, except a few, in the 
very dresses in which they perished. Some with their 
hands clenched, as if for warmth, and almost every 
one, with an arm crooked or bent, as it would be, in 
clinging to the rigging. 

" There were scattered about among the number, 
four or five beautiful little girls, from six to sixteen 
years of age, their cheeks and lips as red as roses, with 
their calm blue eyes open, looking you in the face, as 
if they would speak. I could hardly realize that they 
were dead. I touched their cheeks, and they were 
frozen as hard and as solid as a rock, and not the least 
indentation could be made by any pressure of the 
hand. I could perceive a resemblance to each other, 
and supposed them to be the daughters of a passenger 
named Pepper, who perished, together with his wife 
and ail the family. 

"On the arms of some, were seen the impressions 
of the rope which they had clung to, — the mark of the 
twist deeply sunk into the flesh. I saw one poor negro 
sailor, a tall man, with his head thrown back, his lips 
parted, and his now sightless eyeballs turned upwards, 
and his arms crossed over his breast, as if imploring 
Heaven for aid. This poor fellow evidently had fro- 
zen while in the act of fervent prayer. 

" One female had a rope tied to her leg, which had 
bound her to the rigging ; and another little fellow had 
been crying, and was thus frozen, with the muscles of 
the face just as. we see children when crying. There 
were a brother and agister dashed upon the beach, 
locked in each other's arms ; but they had been sep- 
arated in the barn. All the men had their lips firmly 
compressed together, and with the most agonizing ex- 
pression on their countenances I ever beheld. 

27 



314 SHIPWRECKS AND OTHER DISASTERS. 

"One little girl had raised herself on tiptoe, ana 
thus was frozen, just in that position. It was an awful 
sight ; and such a picture of horror was before me, 
that I became unconsciously fixed to the spot, and 
found myself trying to suppress my ordinary breath- 
ing, lest I should disturb the repose of those around 
me. I was aroused from my reverie by the entrance 
of a man — a coroner. 

"As I was about to leave, my attention became 
directed to a girl, who, I afterwards learned, had come 
that morning from the city to search for her sister. 
She had sent for her to come over from England, and 
had received intelligence that she was in this ship. 
She came into the barn, and the second body she cast 
her eyes upon, was hers. She gave way to such a 
burst of impassioned grief and anguish, that I could 
not behold her without sharing in her feelings. She 
threw herself upon the cold and icy face and neck of 
the lifeless body, and thus, with her arms around her, 
remained wailing, mourning, and sobbing, till I came 
away ; and when some distance off, I could hear her 
calling her by name in the most frantic manner. 

"So little time, it appears, had they to prepare for 
their fate, that I perceived a bunch of keys, and a 
half eaten cake, fall from the bosom of a girl whom 
the coroner was removing. The cake appeared as if 
part of it had just been bitten, and hastily thrust into 
her bosom, and round her neck was a ribbon, with a 
pair of scissors. 

"And to observe the stout, rugged sailors, too, 
whose iron frames could endure so much hardship — 
here they lay, masses of ice. Such scenes show us, 
indeed, how powerless and feeble are all human efforts 
when contending against the storms and tempests, 
which sweep with resistless violence over the face of 
the deep. And yet the vessel was so near the shore, 
that the shrieks and moans of the poor creatures were 
heard through that bitter, dreadful night, till towards 
morning, when the last groan died away, and all wag 



WRECK OF THE REGULATOR. 315 

nushed in death, and the murmur of the raging bil- 
lows was all the sound that then met the ear." 



WRECK OF THE BRIG REGULATOR, 

In the outer harbor of Plymouth, February 5, 1836, 
by which Five Lives were lost, 

The following account respecting the loss of the 
brig Regulator, of Boston, Captain Phelps, is extracted 
from the statement of the captain. It shows the condi- 
tion of the brig from the time she made Plymouth 
light-house till she was wrecked in the outer harbor. 

"On the 3d of February, the wind E. N. E., with 
snow, judged the vessel to be in latitude of Cape Ann, 
and steered accordingly, wind strong from N., the ves- 
sel and rigging so covered with ice, that, with the 
weakened crew, it was impossible to work the brig; 
hoisted a signal of distress, and bore away for Ply- 
mouth. A signal was made from the light-house for 
us to run in ; we did so, steering the brig with the 
braces, the rudder being choked with ice ; ran in as 
far as possible and let go the anchors in three fathoms 
water, the vessel striking heavily between the swells. 
At 8 o'clock, P. M., the flood making, the vessel lay 
afloat and easy till 5 next morning; when, the swell 
increasing, she began to strike heavily. As the brig 
made no water during the night, we had hopes of as- 
sistance from the shore by day-light to help us change 
our berth. About 7, the vessel drifting towards the 
breakers, cut away the foremast, which took with it 
the main topmast and main yard. The vessel was 
now in the breakers, and the sea making a complete 
breach over every part of her. The long-boat was 
washed overboard, and lay under the lee, with a haw- 



316 SHIPWRECKS AND OTHER DISASTERS. 

ser fast to it and full of water. Slipped both cables 
and lightened the vessel as much as possible. At half 
past 8 o'clock, cabin and forecastle full of water and 
the vessel fast breaking up, three men, (Geo. Dryden^ 
an Englishman, Daniel Canton, of New York, and 
Augustus Tileston, of Vermont,) threw themselves 
into the long-boat and cut her adrift ; she capsized in 
the breakers about fifty yards under our lee. John 
Smith, a Swede, and a Greek boy of Smyrna, were 
buried under the fragments of the wreck, and perished 
there. The mainmast was still standing; the top and 
mast head were gone, but the rigging was firm, and to 
that we now retreated, every sea drenching us, and 
our clothes freezing upon us. Here we remained until 
all were more or less frozen, and the cargo washing out 
aft. The remnant of her providentially drifted near 
the edge of the breakers, and we were taken off by the 
boats of brig Cervantes, Captain Kendrick, the crew 
of which were anxious observers of our perilous situ- 
ation, at the distance of one third of a mile, all the 
morning, without being able to render the least assist- 
ance, as the sea broke over and around us so that no 
boat could approach and live. At the imminent peril 
of their lives they rescued us. Another hour on 
the wreck, and human aid would have been unavail- 
ing." 

The crew of the Cervantes were five hours in their 
boats, endeavoring to rescue the Regulator's crew. 
The consciousness that these noble fellows were thus 
striving, animated the sufferers to continued exertions; 
otherwise they would have speedily sunk under their 
calamities. 

The gratitude of the survivers of the ill-fated brig 
Regulator towards those who had nobly rescued them 
at the peril of their lives, was thus expressed in a card 
published a few days after : — 

"A Card. — William D. Phelps, for himself and in 
behalf of the officers and surviving crew of the late 



THE ISABELLA. 317 

brig Regulator, return their grateful and heartfelt 
thanks to Capt. Kendrick, officers, crew, and passen-' 
gers of the brig Cervantes, for their perilous and suc- 
cessful exertions in rescuing them from a watery 
grave ; and for the untiring and persevering benevo- 
lence and kindness exhibited by every person on board 
the Cervantes, in ministering to our wants while on 
board that vessel. 

" Language is incapable of expressing the feelings 
of our hearts towards them. 

" Actuated by the noblest motives, their efforts were 
crowned with success; and their reward is in the 
consciousness of having preserved from distressing 
shipwreck six of their fellow-creatures. 

" Boston, Feb. 11, 1836." 



WRECK OF THE SCHOONER ISABELLA, 

Which foundered at Sea, in a Gale, November 1, 
1837, 

We copy the following account as published at the 
time, purporting to be gathered from the statement of 
the only surviver : — 

" The schooner Forrest, Capt. Davis, which arrived 
at New York, Nov. 10, fell in, on the 4th inst, with 
the wreck of the schooner Isabella, on which they 
found but one person living, whom they took off, Mr. 
James Henderson, of the Isle of Haut, Me. The 
substance of Mr. Henderson's statement is as fol- 
lows : — 

" He sailed from New York, on the 25 th of October, 
for Wilmington, N. C, in the schooner Isabella, Capt. 
Samuel Turner, of the Isle of Haut, having on board 
Mr. Snow of Bucksport, and Charles Lewis, or Nealer, 
of Camden, cook, and a lad fifteen years old. On the 

§7* 



318 SHIPWRECKS AND OTHER DISASTERS. 

fourth day out, hove to under a close-reefed foresail, it 
blowing a gale, with snow, hail and rain. On the third 
night after they had hove to, the sixth day out, then 
in the Gulf Stream, shipped two tremendous seas, 
which capsized the schooner. At the time, all on board 
were in the cabin. About an hour after, both masts 
broke off by the deck, when she righted, and Capt. 
Turner, Mr. Snow and himself, succeeded in lashing 
themselves on the quarter-deck. The cook was 
drowned in the cabin ; Mr. Snow was washed off fif- 
teen minutes after, and was drowned ; in half an hour 
more, the captain was also washed off and drowned. 
The gale continued twenty-four hours after they were 
capsized, and Mr. Henderson expected every minute 
to be washed off. The sea ran mountains high ; and 
he could only catch his breath between the waves as 
they rolled over him. There was but ten feet of the 
quarter-deck out of water. He had nothing to eat or 
drink the seven days he was on the wreck but a hand- 
ful of hay. 

" On the first morning after the accident he saw a 
brig pass about eight miles from the wreck. On the 
second day, saw a fore topsail schooner four miles off. 
On the third day, nothing. On the fourth, saw two 
fore-and-aft schooners, four miles distant. On the fifth, 
about 2 o'clock, P. M., saw a barque, which ran down 
upon the wreck before the wind ; the sea smooth, with 
a four knot breeze; unlashed himself, and expected 
she intended to run so near that he could get on board ; 
but when she came within three or four yards, she 
hauled up on the . wind and left him. There were 
ten men, aft, looking at him. He had a handkerchief, 
tied to a board, which he waved to them; he also 
hailed her, for they were within hearing, but to no 
purpose. She was so near that he could see the hoops 
on the buckets a man was painting on the round-house. 
He took her to be a British barque, with but little or 
no cargo in. Saw nothing on the sixth; that day 
he found a little hay, which he ate, it being the first 



THE TRIO. 319 

food since he was on the wreck. On the seventh 
day, at 2 o'clock, P. M., he was taken off by Capt. 
Davis, of the schooner Forrest, who treated him with 
the greatest kindness, and gave him his own bed to 
sleep on. 

" The conduct of the officers of the vessel which 
passed the wreck sufficiently near to know that suc- 
cor was needed, and human life at stake, cannot be 
too severely execrated; and were their names but 
known and published, we doubt not the indignant 
scorn of all classes, of whatever nation, would teach 
them the humanity of which their own hearts would 
seem to have been entirely bereft." 



¥RECK OF THE BRIG TRIO, 

On Deer Island, in Boston Harbor, February 20, 

1837. 

The brig Trio, Capt. John Humphrey, sixty-three 
days from Havana for Boston, went ashore on Deer 
Island, on Friday morning, Feb. 20. She had on 
board a large cargo of molasses, which was totally lost, 
as, shortly after stranding, the vessel went to pieces. 
The captain and second mate were drowned ; the rest 
got safe ashore. 

We give the following additional particulars : — The 
brig Trio made Boston Light on Thursday evening, 
when, soon after, there came on a thick snow-storm, and 
the crew being exhausted, Capt. Humphrey felt obliged 
to stand in ; at 10 o'clock she struck on Fawn Bar, 
knocked off her rudder, and beat over. Both anchors 
were then let go ; but she dragged them, and about 
12 o'clock she struck on Deer Island. The sea break- 
ing over her, the crew lashed themselves to the wreck. 
She went entirely to pieces about 7 or 8 o'clock on 
Friday morning. The mate states that he was thrown 



320 SHIPWRECKS AND OTHER DISASTERS. 

ashore on a piece of the wreck, — how, he knows not.. 
He saw the second mate throw himself into the water, 
with the intention of swimming ashore, but the cur- 
rent took him under the wreck, and he disappeared. 
The last he saw of the captain, who was his father, 
he was hanging in the rudder-hole, where he had un- 
doubtedly fallen, and being unable to extricate him- 
self, was supposed to have perished in that situation. 



¥RECK OF THE SCHOONER MARY, 

Of Richmond, Va., near New York, September 14, 
1837. 

The following account of the loss of the schooner 
Mary was communicated by James Dow, one of the 
crew, and the only surviver of those who were on 
board the ill-fated vessel : — 

" The schooner belonged to Richmond, Virginia, 
whence she sailed on Saturday, Sept. 1. She was a 
large vessel, of about one hundred and fifty tons bur- 
then. On Friday afternoon, Sept. 4, she struck on the 
Romer, a light wind blowing at the time. At 4, or half 
past 4 o'clock, the steamboat Isis, Capt. Allaire, went 
alongside, and endeavored to prevail upon the captain 
and crew to leave the vessel and come on board ; but 
Capt. Marshall, of the Mary, refused, stating that he 
thought they would be able to get her off. About 
half past 5 o'clock, the wind commenced blowing a 
gale, and the sea broke over the vessel. Between 9 
and 10 o'clock, she stove, and both masts went by the 
board. Before dark, finding the gale increased, the 
captain, mate, a passenger, and all the hands, six in 
number, lashed themselves to the main rigging, and 
when the mast went, it threw all hands with it, into 
the sea. 



THE MARY. 32x 

ec The wind was then blowing a heavy gale from 
the eastward, and the breakers running, what is prop- 
erly termed, mountains high. The surviver, Mr. 
James Dow, had presence of mind, while in the water, 
to cut himself clear of the rigging and make back for 
the wreck, which he fortunately reached. He gained 
the quarter-deck, and lashed himself to the taffrail. 
He imagined he heard a voice from one of his per- 
ishing shipmates, and answered, but all was silent. 
Almost immediately afterward, the vessel went to 
pieces, but Mr. Dow maintained his position on part 
of the quarter-deck, the waves continually breaking 
over him. He remembers very little more till Sun- 
day morning, when he was taken from his perilous 
situation by Mr. John "Smith, of Granville, Middle- 
town, N. J., about twelve miles from the place where 
the vessel was wrecked, he having floated that dis- 
tance. Immediately previous to being taken off, he 
had recovered sufficiently to make signals with a small 
piece of canvass, which, fortunately, had the desired 
effect. - 

" This is the second time, within two months, that 
Mr. Dow has suffered shipwreck, — the first time in 
the brig Cicero of Baltimore, — and the other, in the 
vessel which forms the subject of the above account, 
in which his life was so providentially preserved 
while all his shipmates perished. He speaks in the 
highest terms of the generous conduct of Mr. Smith, 
who, after taking him from the frail support which 
had saved his life, carried him to his own house, and 
used every exertion to render his situation comforta- 
ble." 21 



322 SHIPWRECKS AND OTHER DISASTERS. 



WRECK OF THE BRIG ELLSWORTH, 

On Hull Beach, near Boston Light-House, February 

20, 1837. 

The brig Ellsworth, Capt. Adams, sixty-one days 
from Rio Janeiro for Boston, with a cargo of coffee, 
went ashore about two miles south of the light-house, 
on Hull Beach, Friday afternoon, Feb. 20. Her fore- 
mast and maintopmast were carried away. She had 
not bilged ; but the sea breaking over her, partly filled 
her. Capt. Adams, in endeavoring to reach the shore 
in her chain box, was drowned. The rest of the crew, 
with the exception of the steward, who was also 
drowned, gained the shore, though much frost-bitten 
and exhausted, and were saved. 



SHIPWRECK OF THE BRISTOL, 

On Far Rockaway Beach, near New York, Novem- 
ber 21, 1836; in which upwards of Sixty Lives 
were lost. 

The ship Bristol sailed from Liverpool Oct. 15, 
having on board a crew of sixteen men, including offi- 
cers, and about one hundred passengers, chiefly emi- 
grants. She Jiad a fair passage across the Atlantic, 
and was off Sandy Hook at 9 o'clock on Saturday 
night, Nov. 20, with her lanterns out as a signal for a 
pilot; at which time the gale had just commenced. 
No pilots, however, were out, and the ship was obliged 
to stand off. About 4 o'clock on Sunday morning, 
she struck on Far Rockaway, and at daylight, though 



THE BRISTOL. 323 

within half a mile of the shore, owing to the heavy- 
sea, no relief could he afforded to the distressed pas- 
sengers and crew, who were clinging to the shrouds 
and other parts of the rigging. In this situation they 
remained through the day. About 11 o'clock at night, 
the sea somewhat abating, some boats went to her 
relief, and succeeded in taking off the captain, a por- 
tion of the crew, and some of the passengers. All 
were rescued who remained on the wreck when the 
boats reached it, but during the day the ship went to 
pieces, and the next morning her stern-post was all 
that remained. 

There were two of the seamen, — the cook and the 
steward, — Mr. Donnelly, two gentlemen by the name of 
Carleton, cabin passengers, and about sixty steerage 
passengers, who were lost. In connection with this 
loss of life and property, the journals of the day called 
public attention to the fact, that it was occasioned by 
the negligence of -the pilots in the performance of their 
duties. Here was a ship within Jive miles of her port, 
and making every exertion to procure a pilot, and yet 
no pilot was to be had; and the gale subsequently 
coming on, caught her so much in shore that it was 
impossible to claw off, — and the fatal result was the 
destruction of the vessel, and the sacrifice of many 
human beings. 

The following additional particulars were published 
shortly after the. occurrence of this disaster : 

"We are at length enabled to state, with some de- 
gree of certainty, the number of lives lost and saved, 
on board the Bristol. So far as we can learn, forty 
persons only are saved, and more than sixty lost. 
The bodies of several have drifted ashore, and have 
since been consigned to the earth. 

" Among the passengers lost, was Mr. Donnelly, of 
New York, — who died a victim to his own philanthro- 
py, — and Mrs. Hogan and two daughters. Mrs. Don- 
nelly, her t nurse and children, were saved, and, with 
other women and children, landed by the first boat. 



324 SHIPWRECKS AND OTHER DISASTERS. 

Twice the boats returned to the wreck, and twice Mr. 
Donnelly yielded his place to others. In the third 
attempt to go off, the boats were swamped, and the 
crew became discouraged, and would not go back. 
In the meantime, the storm increased, and Mr. Don- 
nelly, with the two Mr. Carletons, took to the fore- 
mast, where the crew and many steerage passengers 
had sought temporary safety. Unhappily, this mast 
soon went by the board, and of about twenty persons 
on it, the only one saved was Mr. Briscoe, a cabin 
passenger, which was effected by his catching at the 
bowsprit rigging, whence he was taken by the boats. 
The captain and a number of the cabin and steerage 
passengers were on the mizenmast ; and when that 
fell, they lashed themselves to the taffrail, where, for 
four hours, the sea broke over them. 

" Some twenty of the steerage passengers, principally 
women and children, perished almost immediately 
after the ship struck. Even before they could leave 
their berths the ship bilged, filled, and all below were 
drowned. Not a groan was heard to denote the catas- 
trophe — so awfully sudden was it. 

" And to those whom the waves and the mercy of 
God had spared, what was the conduct of their brother 
man? Their persons, their trunks, were searched and 
robbed by the fiends that gathered around the wreck. 
One hapless being, thrown senseless, but yet alive, on 
the shore, and having about him his, all — ten sover- 
eigns — was plundered of them ! " 



THE PENNSYLVANIA. 325 



WRECK OF THE SCH.'R PENNSYLVANIA, 

Which was struck by a Squall at Sea, and Foun- 
dered, September 16, 1837. 

From the papers of the day we have gathered the 
following particulars respecting this disaster : 

" The officers of the ship Amelia reported, that, on 
the 20th of Sept., in lat, 32° 23', Ion. 73°, she fell in 
with the schooner Pennsylvania, Capt. Williams, bot- 
tom up, with two men, in a very exhausted state, cling- 
ing to her. The survivers stated that she sailed from 
New York, on the 10th of September, with twenty- 
one passengers, and a crew of six persons, including 
the officers; and that she was capsized on the night 
of the 16th, after the passengers had retired for the 
night. The captain and crew were on deck at the 
time of the accident, and are supposed to have been 
lost at the moment it occurred. Seven passengers 
below were immediately drowned, and the remainder 
continued to survive, struggling in the hold amongst 
the cargo, until the next Monday, when two of them, 
Mr. J. P. Williams, and Lansing Dougherty escaped 
from the cabin, and, by great exertions, gained the 
bottom of the vessel. The cries of their comrades 
were distinctly heard throughout the day; but gradu- 
ally sunk into a dismal moan, and became extinct 
during the following night. 

" The officers of the Amelia, indulging the faint hope 
that some of the unfortunate passengers in the hold 
of the schooner might yet be alive, despatched her 
jolly-boat with tools to scuttle her, which was done, 
and they providentially discovered one young man 
yet breathing, but quite senseless, and bruised in a 
shocking manner; the remains of the other persons 
were floating about in the hold of the vessel. The 
28 



326 SHIPWRECKS AND OTHER DISASTERS. 

youth was conveyed to the ship, and every medical 
aid within the reach of her company was adminis- 
tered to him, but all without success. He survived 
only two days. 

" The names of the passengers, as given by the 
survivers, are as follows : — Mr. and Mrs. Gibson ; Mr. 
and Mrs. Miller ; Mr. and Mrs. Barry ; Messrs. Lyons, 
Kess, Burrell, Whitney, Thompson, McGill, Wilson, 
Holler, Liebe, Ramps, Tiech; a youth named Wil- 
liam, under the care of Mr. Whitney; and the two 
survivers, Mr. J. P. Williams and Mr. Lansing Dough- 
erty." 



WRECK OF THE BARQUE LLOYD, 

Of Portland, on Nantasket Beach, Hull, December 
23, 1839, with the loss of the whole crew, ex* 
cepting one person, 

"The barque Lloyd, Capt. Daniel Mountfort, of 
Portland, from Havana, for Boston, with a valuable 
cargo, was driven ashore on Nantasket Beach, Dec. 
23, and became a total wreck. All her crew perished, 
with the exception of one seaman, named . George 
Scott, of Baltimore. It was about noon, the weather 
very thick, and a heavy sea on. Her fore and main 
masts were gone, and only part of the mizen mast was 
standing. Five of the crew got out the long-boat and 
attempted to land, but she quickly filled, and they all 
perished. Another of the crew, George Scott, suc- 
ceeded in reaching the shore, and was dragged out of 
the surf by several of the inhabitants assembled on 
the beach. Capt. Mountfort and two others lashed 
themselves in the mizen rigging. The men were 
washed off by the sea, which made a fair breach over 



THE LLOYD. 327 

the vessel, and buffeting the billows a few moments, 
they sunk to rise no more. 

"Capt. Motintfort was still lashed in the rigging, 
the only surviver on board, when the boat belonging 
to the Charlotte, manned by the crew who had them- 
selves just suffered the horrors of shipwreck, seized a 
favorable opportunity, and, by the greatest exertion, 
they succeeded in boarding the barque, and bringing 
Capt. Mountfort ashore. He had been washed from 
his lashings several times, and badly bruised by com- 
ing in contact with the shattered vessel, and was in- 
sensible when he was taken off. He was carried to 
one of the huts of the Humane Society, and every 
effort made to restore life, but all in vain. He was 
the oldest shipmaster out of Portland, being sixty years 
of age, and has left a wife and three daughters to 
mourn the melancholy providence which has so sud- 
denly deprived them of a husband and father. He 
was a man much respected in the town where he 
lived. 

" The noble conduct of the boat's crew who risked 
their own lives to rescue a fellow-creature from a 
watery grave, is deserving of the highest praise. 

" The names of the officers and crew of the ill-fated 
vessel were, Capt. Daniel Mountfort, of Portland; 
Frederic C. Huntress, mate, Parsonville, Me. ; Henry 
Dodd, Boston ; William Guilford, Limmington, Me ; 
George Scott, Baltimore, saved; William Birch, Balti- 
more ; William Leslie, New York ; Henry Peck, and 
John Stewart." 



328 SHIPWRECKS AND OTHER DISASTERS. 



ENCOUNTER OF THE SHIP BYRON, 

And Narrow Escape from an Iceburg, August 3, 

1836. 

From a person who was passenger on board the ship 
Byron, the following particulars are gathered : — 

"On the 30th of June, the ship Byron left Liver- 
pool for New York, laden with a heavy cargo, and 
having on board, in passengers and crew, about one 
hundred and twenty persons. On the morning of the 
3d of Aug., thirty-four days out, in lat, 44° 22', Ion. 48° 
50', near the banks of Newfoundland, a scene occurred 
which can never be effaced from memory. It was 
the watch of the first mate, a man of great fidelity, 
but, being indisposed, his place was taken by another. 
An unusual degree of levity and thoughtless security 
among the passengers had just given place to sleep. 
And now all was still, save the tread of the watch on 
deck, or the occasional toll of the bell to warn fishing 
crafts, if near, of our approach. But we had more 
need to be warned ourselves, than to give warning to 
others, of approaching danger. 

" About 2 o'clock in the morning, a hurried step 
awoke the writer of this sketch, and the rapid whis- 
per of some created the suspicion tha't all was not 
right. Springing from his berth, he asked one of the 
men near the cabin door, what was the matter. ' We 
are in the midst of ice,' said he ; ' will you inform the 
captain and mate?' The captain was instantly on 
deck ; he ran forward to look out. In a moment the 
vessel, going at the rate of five knots, struck, as if 
against a rock. It was an island of ice ! It lifted its 
head above the water more than one hundred feet, and 
leaned over as if ready to fall down upon us. The 
word was given to put up helm and back the sails. 



THE BYRON. 329 

As the sailors were hastening to obey the latter order, 
and the terrified passengers were rushing on deck, and 
looking up at the immense overhanging, freezing 
mass, the ship struck again with increased force. O, 
what a shock ! — crash ! crash ! — it seemed as if the 
masts were falling, one after another, oh the deck. 




The ship Byron encountering an iceberg. 

"The second mate entered the cabin, and clapping 
his hands violently together, exclaimed, ' My God ! 
our bows are stove in — we're all gone.' An awful 
death appeared now inevitable. In this moment of 
general panic, the commanding officer gave orders to 
clear away the boat. Then, while the knife was being 
applied to the cordage which fastened her alongside 
the ship, a rush was made to her by men and women. 
That small boat was in a moment filled with thirty 
or forty persons. It seems utterly marvellous that 
she did not break down, precipitating every soul into 
the deep. Had this taken place, our commanding 
officer must have shared the same fate; for, from a 
desire to gain possession of her for himself and crew, 
28* 



330 SHIPWRECKS AND OTHER DISASTERS. 

or to save the miserable crowd, who had taken pos- 
session of her, from destruction, — it may be from both 
motives, — he entered the boat and stood in her until 
he had drove out every one at the point of the sword. 

" Then was a scene of terror ! In front of the cabin 
the passengers were collected, half naked, some on 
their knees, calling for mercy — some clapping their 
hands, and uttering the most appalling shrieks. 
Nothing could be distinctly heard. All was confusion 
and horror. It was enough to penetrate a heart of 
stone. Some, more collected, were dressing them- 
selves, preparing to resist the cold, if, perchance, they 
should survive on the wreck. Others were looking 
for something to which they could lash themselves 
for support for a time in the water. Here you might 
see one with a safety-belt slung over his shirt, en- 
deavoring to fill it with air : there, another, pale and 
agitated, inquiring, 'Is there any hope?' And there, 
one standing, as if in sullen despair, saying, 'It is no 
use to do anything. We must die.' ' Are we sink- 
ing, uncle?' cries a dear boy. A child running to 
a brave sailor, says, l Won't you save me?' And the 
loud wailing and lamentation from the crowd rose 
higher and higher. Then, as if to close the painful 
scene, the ship struck again on her quarter. The 
shock reverberated like thunder, making every joint 
of the vessel shake as if coming apart. Hope had 
now nearly fled; all hearts were dismayed; the de- 
spairing cry was renewed, and the most calm braced 
themselves in preparation for immediate death. Even 
the dogs cowered down on the deck in silence. 

" It appeared that at the first shock against the 
mountain, the jib-boom was broken and thrown over 
the bows into the vessel. The second shock carried 
away our bowsprit, head and cutwater, lodging the 
timbers across the bows. HacLit struck us on either 
side, or had it struck the hull, we must have perished ; 
but, by the mercy of God, the hull was uninjured. 
After the bowsprit was carried away, the stem of the 



THE BYRON. 331 

ship must have been held down for an instant by the 
overhanging column ; and her not immediately rising 
in front, gave the idea to the most experienced, that 
she was stove in, and was filling with water. This 
created the panic. But the sails being backed, and 
the helm put hard up, she turned off from her enemy, 
and, swinging clear, received the last shock on her 
larboard quarter, which, though its sound was terri- 
ble, did no injury. That moment she was free. 
And now was the contest between despair and hope. 
The carpenter reported that the hull was sound, and 
that the bowsprit could be repaired, but then she 
might have sprung a leak, and the foremast was in 
danger of falling. The word was to pump. The 
pump was rigged and worked. It was a moment of 
painful suspense, until the pump sucked, showing all 
was tight. Then hope gilded the countenance of our 
captain, and all hearts began to live in its radiance. 
Still we waited to hear the crash of the foremast, as 
the vessel was rolling in the sea, but it stood firm. 
Daylight, ever delightful to those on the deep, and 
peculiarly grateful to us, soon appeared. We found 
ourselves going on our way, alive, and with every 
reasonable confidence of future life. 

" We stood amazed at our deliverance. The most 
careless among us were constrained to attribute our 
preservation to a kind and merciful Providence, while 
the multitude cried out unhesitatingly, ' It is the Lord 
who hath saved us ; thanks and praises to His holy 
name.' Then every countenance was lighted up with 
joy ; every heart was full of gratitude to God, and love 
to one another ; and many purposes were formed of 
reformation in future. The next day we saw three 
mountains of ice. We gazed with the deepest interest 
on the fellows of that which had so greatly endangered 
our lives. Before the close of the second day a new 
bowsprit was fitted up, which stood the trial of the 
wind and waves the remainder of the voyage. In all 
this business, the officers and crew showed great skill 
and energy/ 1 



CONFLAGRATION OF THE BURLINGTON, 

On her Passage from New Orleans to Havre, March, 
17, 1840. 

The barque Burlington, Captain Hallet, of Boston, 
left New Orleans on Saturday, Feb. 15, 1840, for Ha- 
vre, with cotton, and a crew of fifteen hands, including 
two officers, cook and steward, and had proceeded 
twenty-four days on her voyage, when, in lat. 37° N., 
and Ion. 54° 40' W., at about half past 9 o'clock at 
night, on Tuesday, March 10, she was struck by 
lightning, which came down the larboard main-top- 
sail sheet, knocked down the second officer and all 
the starboard watch, with the exception of a man at 
the wheel. 

All hands were turned up to examine the vessel, but 
no apparent injury seemed to have been done. Cap- 
tain Hallet had, but a moment before, left the deck to 
examine the barometer. He heard the noise and the 
cry of the watch, and came immediately on deck ; 
found that there was no loss of life, but the men faint 
and weak in their limbs. At quarter past 12, it was 
discovered that the ship was on fire, by the smoke 
coming up the booby-hatch and forecastle. The cap- 
tain ordered the forecastle and hatches to be closed, 
and sails put over them. 

The wind was now blowing a gale, with heavy 
sea, and lightning to the S. W. Captain Hallet hauled 
up courses and wore ship to the westward, and got 
the long-boat and jolly-boat all ready with provisions, 
water, &c., in case they should be wanted. At 6 
o'clock, A. M., found the larboard side and the mast 
coat of the mainmast quite warm. A hole was then 
made in the coat of the mainmast, with an auger, large 
enough to admit a funnel, through which a quantity 



THE BURLINGTON 333 

of water was poured down to protect the mainmast, 
but the deck was burnt underneath. 

At 8 o'clock, A. M.j the boats were got out, but the 
jolly-boat filled on lowering. The long-boat was 
safely lowered, with a part of the crew and the second 
officer, and was held by a hawser under the lee of the 
ship. At half past 10, A. M., expecting the flames 
every moment to burst out, all the crew entered the 
long-boat. Having first implored the blessing of Hea- 
ven, they committed themselves to the care of that 
God who ruleth the winds and waves, and who alone 
can save. At 8 o'clock, P. M., the weather having 
moderated, and wanting some articles they had left 
behind, they boarded the ship, and found less smoke 
emerging from the hatches than when they had left. 

Captain Hallet ordered holes to be bored wherever 
the deck was the hottest, and water poured down, 
and by means of puttying up and pasting over every 
hole and crack, he was in hopes of smothering the fire, 
or, at all events, of keeping it down so as to enable 
him to make some port. Accordingly, he ordered the 
boat to be taken in, and all things secured about the 
deck, and kept the ship to a northwest by west 
course. In this manner they were employed the six 
following days, pouring down many buckets of water 
wherever the deck was the hottest, and in pumping the 
ship. And here let it not be forgotten that this gal- 
lant and seemingly devoted crew were without change 
of clothes, although frequently saturated with salt 
water, and with no covering except, the wide canopy 
of heaven ; but, fortunately, their provisions were on 
deck. 

On Monday, the 16th, a strong gale came on from 
the westward, at 1 o'clock, P. M. The foresail and 
foretop main-staysail were taken in. At half past 2, 
P. M., it blew a complete hurricane from the north- 
west. A new close-reefed main top-sail was blown 
away, and the mainmast worked considerably ; prob- 
ably the wedges were burnt out, and had dropped 



334 SHIPWRECKS AND OTHER DISASTERS. 

down. The beams and butts of the deck were all 
open on the larboard side. In the afternoon the 
weather moderated. On Tuesday, the 17th, at 10 
o'clock, A. M., they perceived a sail, — the St. James. 
Captain Sebor, — and hoisted a signal of distress. 

At 3 o'clock, P. M., the St. James spoke the Bur- 
lington, and by 5 o'clock, the same afternoon, all 
hands, with some provisions, were safe on board the 
former vessel. Captain Sebor displayed a most praise- 
worthy anxiety for the comfort and accommodation 
of all who were on board. When Captain Hallet left 
the Burlington, (which he did last of all,) the flames 
were about ten or twelve feet above the deck. At 
about 6 o'clock, P. M., the ship was one mass of fire, 
and about the same time the main and mizen masts 
fell overboard. At 10 o'clock, she suddenly disap- 
peared, having probably sunk. 



CONFLAGRATION OF THE POLAND. 

On her Passage from New York for Havre, May 
18th, 1840. 

The packet ship Poland, Captain Anthony, from 
New York for Havre, was fallen in with by the ship 
Clifton on the 18th of May, in latitude 41° 12', longi- 
tude 56°, on fire. The passengers and crew, and a 
portion of the cargo were saved. The Poland had on 
board twenty-four cabin, and eleven steerage passen- 
gers. The names of the passengers were — B. G. 
Wain wright, lady, two children and servant; Miss 
M. Hughes; Messrs. E. Boyer; A. L. Gournez; A. 
Pizarro; C. Bermer; J. Prom; J. B. Yalee; J. C. 
Parr, of Philadelphia; J. B. Nichols, of Providence; 
J. R. Mahler, and Mrs. Campbell, of Canada; E. D. 
Harbour, and J. H. Buckingham, of Boston, and 



THE POLAND. 335 

Louis Reynard; James Knott, shoemaker, of Boston ; 
Louis Marchand, of Lyons, France; Catherina Hui- 
ther, of Rechtenbach, who had spent her last cent in 
paying for her outfit to get back to her husband, who 
was to meet her in Havre; Joseph Schimmel, of Ku- 
elsheim; George Claus, of Hofen ; Nicholas Becker, 
of Wolfstein ; Michael Knaub, of Maden ; John San- 
der, ofAlzei; Henry Usinger, of Ilberschausen ; John 
Kramer, of Metz; and John Schneider, a German, 
residence unknown. 

The ship Poland was struck by lightning on Sat- 
urday, the 16th of May, five days out, in lat. 41° 35', 
long. 58° 30'. A passenger states, that, with Capt. An- 
thony and others, during a heavy squall, at 3 o'clock 
on the afternoon of that day, he saw the lightning 
descend, like a single ball of fire, and strike the lar- 
board fore royal yard-arm ; that it thence dropped 
to the fore yard, and there running into the mast 
seemed to vanish and separate. During the whole 
storm there was but one clap of thunder, and but one 
stroke of lightning. The concentrated fury of the 
clouds seemed spent in that one bolt, which struck as 
above described. The sublimity of the spectacle will 
forever be a theme of conversation to those who wit- 
nessed it; and while, in the providence of a good 
God, all the souls on board have escaped to tell of it, 
they cannot regret the dangers and privations which 
they have endured, which have enabled them to speak 
of a sublime and terrific spectacle, such as few have 
witnessed, and survived to describe. He who holds 
the waters in the hollow of his hands, knows only to 
how many gallant ships and gallant men, a signal 
like that of the descent of the lightning upon the Po- 
land has been the precursor of a terrible death, leaving 
no testimony to surviving friends of its manner or its 
time. 

It was at first thought, by the deeply interested 
spectators, that on the fore yard the fluid had spent 
itself and separated ; but examination destroyed this 



336 SHIPWRECKS AND OTHER DISASTERS. 

hope, and it was discovered that the lightning had 
passed down the mast into the forward hold, and fired 
the cotton stowed there. Immediately after the light- 
ning had struck the ship, Captain Anthony went be- 
tween deck, and commenced throwing over cotton 
and flour to get at the lower hold. On taking up the 
lower hatch, the smoke burst out to such a degree 
that they were compelled to shut down all the hatch- 
es. The cabin was immediately filled with smoke, 
so much so that the hands could not remain long 
enough to get out a trunk. The men were, however, 
driven from their work by the smoke, and the strong 
sulphurous smell. At 8 o'clock the hatches were 
closed, and the boats were cleared and got out about 
ten in the evening. The females and children, with 
as many men as was thought proper, making thirty- 
five in all, were put into the long-boat and dropped 
astern, where they remained all that night, and the 
next day and night, until Monday morning, — the ship 
being hove to, in order to be easy, and in hopes of 
being discovered by some passing vessel. Fears 
were entertained that if sail were made, the masts, 
burnt off below the deck, would go by the board, 
and the flames rush up, leaving all hope out of the 
question. 

On Monday morning, the wind having increased, 
the passengers were taken on board, and sail was 
made for the N. E. The fire at one time seemed 
rather to have abated than increased, and the glass 
bull's eyes, and the deck planks did not seem so hot 
as on the day previous. 

In this condition they remained until 2 o'clock in 
the afternoon of the same day, when they were all 
taken off by the Clifton. When we state that the 
wind blew a gale at the time of this trans-shipment, 
we cannot too much admire the skill and care of Cap- 
tain J. B. Ingersoll of the Clifton, and Captain An- 
thony of the Poland, and their officers ; nor can we too 
highly praise the coolness and presence of mind of the 



THE POLAND. 337 

crew and some of the passengers, and the obedience 
of all to direction ; exposed as they were to an untried 
and terrible danger. 

During the time they had remained on board the 
burning vessel, they were in a most horrid state of sus- 
pense, the fire below constantly increasing, — so much 
so, that the decks were momently becoming hotter. 
Her sides were so hot, that, when the ship rolled, the 
planks out of water would instantly become dry and 
smoke. The weather, from Saturday, the time she 
was struck, till Monday afternoon, was fortunately 
fine. During these two days, the boats, one long and 
two small ones, were alongside, and ready at a mo- 
ment's notice. Captain Anthony behaved with a 
courage and coolness which entitle him to the highest 
praise; and after it was found impossible to reach 
and quench the fire, the passengers and crew were 
employed, under his direction, in stopping all vents 
possible, through which the smoke might escape. To 
this coolness, under God, is the present safety of the 
passengers to be attributed. 

The persons on board the Poland could not have 
survived till 12 at night, without assistance. The 
long-boat would accommodate thirty-five persons, the 
other boats, ten to twelve only ; leaving a large num- 
ber of the sixty-four wholly unprovided for. That, 
under these circumstances, and with this view before 
them, they behaved so rationally, is matter of special 
wonder. This occurrence should operate as a cau- 
tion to packet owners, to make more effectual provi- 
sion for the safety of passengers. Two of Francis' 
life-boats would have accommodated the whole on 
board, and as many more, and have likewise secured 
them against all danger in going from one vessel to 
the other in the storm. 

When the passengers and crew left the Poland, the 
deck had become too hot to stand upon, the fire having 
been increased by the motion of the ship. It was the 
opinion, that, in an hour after, the flames burst forth, 

29 22 



338 SHIPWRECKS AND OTHER DISASTERS. 

The Clifton could not stay by to watch the event, on 
account of the storm ; but we can imagine the feelings 
of those who escaped, reverting back in their minds, 
though they could not look with their eyes, to the 
burning grave which they had just escaped. We im- 
agine their greetings of each other, and their thanks, 
first to their Heavenly Preserver, and then to the men, 
His instruments, when the company were told, and all 
found safe. 

The following cards, expressive of the grateful feel- 
ings of the passengers, were published in their behalf 
and signed by them : — 

"Ship Clifton, at sea, May 23, 1840. 
" The undersigned, passengers per ship Poland, 
bound from New York for Havre, take this public 
opportunity to express their thanks to Capt. Anthony, 
for his prompt and unremitting exertions to preserve 
them from the horrid death to which they were for 
two days exposed, after his ship was struck by 
lightning ; being well assured that their preservation is 
to be, under Divine Providence, attributed solely to 
his courage, coolness, and constant vigilance under 
the most trying circumstances." 

" Ship Clifton, at sea, May 23, 1840. 
" The undersigned beg leave, thus publicly, to ex- 
press to Capt. J. B. Ingersoll, and to the officers and 
crew of the ship Clifton, from Liverpool, bound to 
New York, their sincere and heartfelt thanks for their 
cordial and ready compliance with their request to 
be taken on board. They would also express their 
gratitude for his total forgetfulness of self, and his 
deprivation of all personal convenience, in order to 
render their distressed situation as comfortable as pos- 
sible." 

The following letter from J. H. Buckingham, Esq., 
who was a passenger on board the ship Poland, will 



THE POLAND. 339 

be found of intense interest. It was addressed to his 
father, the editor of the Boston Courier. 

"Boston, May 29, 1840. 

u Dear Sir — As the loss of the unfortunate ship Po- 
land excites considerable interest in this community, 
I take an early opportunity to give as complete a de- 
tail of the occurrences connected with it as my mem- 
ory will allow. We sailed from New York, or rather 
we were taken in tow by the steamboat Wave, about 
11, A. M., on Monday, the 11th in St., the wind being 
quite light, and were towed down to Sandy Hook, 
where the pilot and the steamboat left us. Our crew 
consisted of twenty good substantial working men. 
We also had two cooks, two stewards, and the wife 
of the principal steward, as an assistant in the ladies' 
cabin. The captain and two mates made up our 
complement of men to twenty-five. There were 
twenty-four cabin passengers, three of whom could 
not speak English, and three others who could not 
speak French. 

" Counting all hands, men, women and children, 
we had on board sixty-three persons. We had good 
weather and favorable breezes, passing about twenty- 
five miles to the south of Nantucket Shoals, and 
going on prosperously and fast enough to satisfy those 
most impatient for a short passage, until Saturday the 
16th. At noon of that day, we were in latitude 41° 
35', longitude 58° 30', having accomplished nearly one 
third of the passage, and with every hope of not be- 
ing on board more than eighteen days. In the morn- 
ing we passed a ship bound to the east, which we 
supposed to be the Cotton Planter, from New York 
for Havre, which sailed some days before us. 

"At 2 o'clock, P. M., it began to rain, and contin- 
ued, in showers and squalls, until about 3 o'clock, 
when a severe shower commenced, with large drops, 
like some of our summer showers after a hot and sul- 
try day. As most of the male passengers were in the 



340 SHIPWRECKS AND OTHER DISASTERS. 

house on deck, looking out at the rain and sea, Capt. 
Anthony standing at the door, a large hall of fire, ap- 
parently about twice the size of a man's hat, suddenly 
descended in a horizontal line from the clouds, which 
appeared to be meeting from two different points of 
the compass ahead of us, and struck the end of the 
fore topsail yard, on the left hand side ; it descended 
the ties, or some chains, to the end of the fore yard, 
and ran on the yard to the cap of the foremast, where 
it exploded with a report similar to that of a cannon ; 
and giving the appearance of the explosion of a bomb, 
or, similar, although on a much larger scale, to the 
explosions of some of the fire-work circles which we 
have sometimes seen on public galas, throwing out 
rays in every direction, like the rays of the sun. 
The whole was instantaneous, and was witnessed by 
two or three of us. , It came and passed off in a flash, 
and was followed almost at the same instant by a peal 
of thunder, sharp and loud, but not long nor rumbling. 
It was the only flash of lightning or peal of thunder 
that we saw or heard. 

" Almost immediately, Captain Anthony went for- 
ward, with one or two of the passengers, being aware 
that we had been struck with lightning, to ascertain 
if the ship was damaged. It was ascertained that 
when the ball exploded, the electric fluid ran down 
the foremast to the lower deck, where the chain cable 
was stowed; and one of the steerage passengers, point- 
ing to a small piece of cotton on the deck, said there 
was no fire, as that cotton was set on fire, and he put 
it out by putting his foot on it. We ascertained that 
the fluid did run down the chain, but could not see 
where it escaped. On going into the forecastle, we 
discovered some signs of the lightning, and were led 
to suppose, on a very close examination, that, after 
entering the steerage, it passed through into the fore- 
castle, and out up the companion way. A piece of 
the Jid, about eight inches long and two or three thick, 
was knocked off the foretop, and two or three of the 



THE POLAND. 341 

halyards were found to be cut off, which the captain 
immediately set his men to repairing. 

" Although the cabin and steerage were rilled with 
a sort of smoke, which had a suphurous smell, no one 
really supposed the ship to be on fire, or that the ap- 
pearances indicated anything more than the gas usu- 
ally following a stroke of lightning. Some alarm and 
anxiety were very naturally felt, particularly by the 
ladies and those who were connected with them ; but 
still, as there was no increase of smoke, and no ap- 
pearance of fire, the crew went about their regular 
business, and at 4 o'clock dinner was served as usu- 
al ; the cabin, at that time, being clear of everything 
indicative of danger. Some of us could not eat. 
While there was uncertainty, we had no appetite ; and 
the meal, which had heretofore been one of pleasure, 
accompanied by the reciprocation of good feelings, 
and sallies of wit, passed off with dulness, and almost 
in silence. Capt. Anthony looked in upon us as we 
sat at table, but he was too anxious, to sit down, and 
did not cease in his endeavors to ascertain, with cer- 
tainty, our position. The first mate, Mr. Delano, and 
the steward, opened the run and went into it, to ascer- 
tain if there was fire or smoke in that part of the ship, 
but came out without being satisfied either that there 
was or was not ; the smell was the same as that we 
had noticed at first, mostly of gas, like sulphur. 

61 Our dinner was a short and silent one:- and when 
we went on deck, the captain said that he had little 
doubt that the ship was on fire, and that we must 
endeavor to get at it. On a suggestion that we might 
be obliged to take to the boats, it was immediately 
remarked by one of our French passengers, and re- 
sponded to by others — r c Let us take care of the women 
and children first.' I mention this as honorable to 
those who made it, and as showing that there was, 
even at that first moment of danger, a praiseworthy 
abandonment of self to the protection of others who 
are naturally more helpless. Not a moment was lost 

29=* 



342 SHIPWRECKS AND OTHER DISASTERS. 

in clearing the main hatch, the captain himself lead- 
ing the way, and commencing by throwing over the 
empty water-casks and useless lumber which was 
stowed round the long-boat. The mate, with another 
gang of hands, was at the fore hatch, and in a few 
minutes all hands, including many of the cabin and 
steerage passengers, were at work, hoisting out and 
throwing overboard flour and cotton. 

" The work of discharging the cargo between decks 
went on cheerfully, amid a severe rain, until about 
8 o'clock, the fire not appearing to increase, and at 
tim^ appearing to be altogether extinguished, even 
if there had ever been any except in the imagination ; 
but at that time, and when the forward lower hatch 
was reached, we were at once convinced of the aw- 
ful fact, that the cotton in the lower hold was on 
fire. The hatch was immediately closed as tight as 
possible ; the upper hatches were also closed and par- 
tially caulked, and preparations were made to get out 
the boats. 

"In answer to many inquiries why we had not, in 
the mean time, got our baggage on deck, I will re- 
mark that, until now, there was a hope that we were 
still safe, or that, if there were fire on board, we 
should be able to get at and extinguish it. So great 
was* our confidence, that the children were undressed 
and put to bed for the night, — not, however, without 
many anxious forebodings on the part of their parents. 
When the dreadful certainty was forced upon us, our 
first object was to get the women and children on 
deck ; and in fact this was rendered the more necessary 
from the circumstance that, the hatches being closed, 
the gas must escape somewhere, and it immediately 
got vent, through the run and the steward's pantry, 
into the cabin, rendering it impossible for any to re- 
main below long at a time. Capt. Anthony coolly, 
calmly, and quietly gave his orders, and they were 
obeyed in the same spirit by his men. He remarked 
fhat it was useless to bring up anything but such 



THE POLAND. 343 

light articles as we could easiest find, as the "boats 
would not be able to carry any baggage. One caught 
a carpet-bag, and another a cloak ; some opened their 
trunks and took out their money, leaving everything 
else behind; and some caught blankets from the 
berths. The steward got up a barrel of bread, and 
others assisted him in putting whatever of eatables 
there was in his pantry, into bags, &c. A barrel and 
two or three jugs of water were put. into the long-boat, 
with such coats, cloaks, &c, as could be got at in a 
few minutes, and then she was launched overboard. 
The women and children were first handed over the 
side of the ship, and then the cabin passengers, all 
except three ; a few of the steerage passengers ; the 
second mate, Mr. Keeler, and four sailors. The other 
boats were also got out, and two men placed in each. 
All this was done with order and regularity, without 
any pushing or crowding, and in tacit obedience to the 
captain's orders, in a very short time. It was 10 
o'clock before the long-boat was pushed off, and a 
line attached to her and the ship — having on board 
thirty-five persons. Nothing was said at the time 
about the other two boats ; and those of us who re- 
mained on board the Poland were waiting for the first 
break of morning to learn the fate to which we were 
doomed, — knowing that it would be madness to put 
more into the long-boat, and that not more than half 
of those of us who remained could ever get into the 
other two. The ship, at the time we first supposed 
ourselves in danger, was put upon a south-easterly 
course, in the hope of falling in with, or cutting off, 
the ship we had passed in the morning:, and signal 
lanterns were hoisted in the rigging ; but when we 
commenced getting out the boats, she was hove to, 
and she rode very easy all night, the sea not being 
very boisterous, and there being very little wind. 
It rained at intervals all night ; and although it was 
day-light and clear about 4 o'clock in the morning, 
ttye time seemed almost an eternity. After the long- 



344 SHIPWRECKS AND OTHER DISASTERS. 

boat was hoisted out, an attempt was made to save 
some articles from the cabin, and the steward suc- 
ceeded in saving the captain's watch, and chronometer, 
and trunk, with a small box containing about three 
hundred dollars in specie, but the gas and the smoke 
soon obliged us to abandon all further attempts, and 
to close all the doors to the cabin and to the house 
over them. 

" We walked over the deck all that night, and said 
but little. Capt. Anthony was watchful, and going 
silently about in every part of the deck, stopping up 
a crack here and adjusting a rope there, or giving 
some order for the safety of those who at that 
moment he must have felt were dependent almost 
entirely upon his discretion for their lives. Morning 
broke, and the sun rose, but no sail was in sight. 
There we lay on the broad ocean, a fine ship smoking 
at every crack, with three frail boats attached to her 
by a single rope, and no hope of rescue except through 
the goodness of the Almighty. Whatever may have 
been the religious feelings, or the want thereof, among 
those sixty-three persons so awfully situated, there 
was no cowardice exhibited, no sudden outbreak of 
prayer and repentance, no murmuring. But there did 
appear to be a confidence in the breast of every one 
that the God who had thus suddenly afflicted us 
would not leave us to perish in that desert sea. 

"We remained in this state of suspense all day 
Sunday, making ourselves as comfortable as possible. 
Every crack where we could find the smoke coming 
out was stuffed with cotton, or plastered over with 
pipe clay, of which the captain found a small lot on 
board attached to the gallery erected for the steerage 
passengers. The ice-house on deck contained fresh 
meat, such as beef, chickens, ducks, &c, and the 
cooks were employed all day in cooking. We sent 
some warm coffee and fresh milk, with some boiled 
fowls, to our friends in the long-boat, and made every 
exertion to lighten their misfortunes. But still no 



THE POLAND 345 

ship came in sight, and evening found ns in the same 
perilous situation that we were in the night before. 

" During all this day the deck was quite warm on 
the right hand side forward of the mainmast, indicat- 
ing, as we supposed, that the fire was under that part 
of the vessel ; the thick glass dead-lights, set into the 
deck at intervals of about two feet from stem to stern, 
were also quite hot ; but, towards night, the deck and 
glasses began to cool off, and there was less smoke 
apparent, — the forward hatches, too, were not quite so 
hot at night as they were in the morning, — and we 
began to have more hope. We had got a man over 
the stern in the forenoon, on a spar, to fasten down 
the shutters to the cabin windows, and nail them 
down, but this did not prevent the smoke from com- 
ing through. The wooden shutters to the sky-lights 
on deck were put on, to prevent the glass being broken 
by accident, and towards night we thought that the 
glass under those shutters had cooled off. 

"About 10 o'clock on Sunday night, most of the 
unfortunate people on board the ship sunk to sleep on 
the deck, from mere exhaustion, leaving only three 
people awake to watch for help, or to warn us of what 
we most dreaded, a bursting out of the flames. No 
language can tell the sufferings of that night, which 
were more dreadful than the last. We were like 
people confined on the top of a burning mine, with 
no power to escape, — death almost certain to be our 
portion within a few short hours, and our minds tor- 
tured with suspense. 

" During the night, Capt. Anthony laid down and 
caught a little sleep. The weather was tolerably fair, 
but silence reigned throughout, except so far as it was 
broken by the occasional rumbling and dashing of the 
sea. Just before 2 o'clock, I laid down beside him, to 
wait my fate, leaving only one man walking the deck, 
and in doing so, I disturbed him. He waked, and 
turning over, he took my hand and remarked, ' I feel 
that we shall be saved — I have had a pleasant dream.' 



346 SHIPWRECKS AND OTHER DISASTERS. 

This circumstance, slight as it was, had its effect, and 
did impart some little consolation to both of us. So 
true is it that drowning men will catch at straws. 

"About this time the weather was changing, and 
the sea had risen, and the people in the long-boat be- 
came alarmed. Mr. Wainwright hailed the ship, to 
know if it would be best to take the boat in ; Capt. 
Anthony answered that they had better wait patiently 
until daylight, and then walked forward to examine 
into the state of the ship. We now found that the 
fire had evidently increased : the deck and hatches 
were still quite warm, and the pitch was beginning to 
boil or melt in the seams between the planks. A 
short conference convinced us that but little time 
could elapse before the fire would burst through the 
deck, and then there would be no further hope. 
What we said, and what we felt, between that time 
and daylight, is not to be told here ; it is sufficient 
that we thought we knew the worst. The two small 
boats could not hold more than fifteen persons, and 
there were nearly thirty on board the ship. Under the 
best of circumstances, some of us must be lost, and it 
is needless to say that Capt. Anthony determined that 
he should stick to his vessel, and run the risk, rather 
than crowd the boats with too many people, or exclude 
any one else. 

"At daylight, Mr. Wainwright came on board in 
one of the small boats, and we explained our situation 
to him. There was but a chance for any of us. If 
he and his party remained in the boat, they might be 
saved; but if they were taken on board the ship, and 
the fire should break out, it would then be impossible 
to put the people into the boats again and launch 
them over the side, — and death, by fire or drowning, 
would be the certain fate of all. The case was too 
strong, and the horrid conviction too apparent to be 
disputed, and, as was his duty, he prepared to return 
to his family and meet his fate. It is not for me to 
say what were then our feelings. Three of us, in the 



THE POLAND. 347 

fulness of our strength and the ripeness of years, were 
then parting, as we all supposed, forever; and nearly 
every one else was asleep. Words were useless, and 
we could not utter what we wanted to express. We 
commended our families to each other, in case either 
should be saved; and, with a silent shake of the hand, 
he returned to the boat, to make such preparations as 
prudence suggested, to protect his almost helpless 
companions, in case we should find it necessary to cut 
his boat adrift. 

" From this time the sea became more boisterous, 
and, at last, after some hours of anxious watching, we 
sent for Mr. Wainwright to come on board again, and 
he was told that there were fears that his boat would 
swamp. Capt. Anthony was afraid to make sail on 
the ship, as the working of the masts might create a 
current of air below, which would either increase the 
fire, or, operating upon the gas in the hold, blow off 
the hatches and thus seal our fate at once. After 
some consideration, it was concluded to run the risk, 
and take in the boats, and put the ship before the 
wind, in the hope of falling in with some other vessel, 
before we were entirely consumed, — and no time was 
lost in putting the plan into execution. 

" When the poor sufferers in the boat came on 
board, their situation was found to be much worse 
than ours had been. We had at least had the power 
of locomotion, and could shift our position at will; 
but they, particularly the females, had suffered, for 
two long nights and a day, the tortures of a cramped- 
up situation, unable to sit, except in a certain position, 
with their feet continually in the water, and their 
bodies every few minutes covered with the dashing 
spray of the sea. Mrs. Wainwright had held one of 
her children in her arms the whole time, and not being 
by any means a robust woman, it is astonishing 
that she held out so long. Nothing but a mother's 
love, and a firm trust in an overruling Providence 
preserved her in those hours of trial. Mrs. Arfwed- 



348 SHIPWRECKS AND OTHER DISASTERS. 

son was almost exhausted, and her infant having suf- 
fered for want of the natural nourishment its mother 
could not afford, seemed almost ready to die. Some 
of the passengers in the boat were seasick the whole 
time, and, taken altogether, their situation had been 
more trying than ours. 

" Once more together, and stowed in the most com- 
fortable way possible on the quarter-deck, some little 
cheerfulness was shown, although all felt that our sit- 
uation was not in the least alleviated, and many feared 
we but joined together to struggle and to die. Sail 
was made on the ship, and we stood off to the north- 
east, and at noon, we found by observation, that we 
were in latitude 40° 08', and longitude 56°, having 
drifted to the southeast with the sea. We were now 
in the track of vessels bound to and from Europe and 
the United States, and the hope that we might yet be 
saved, inspired some confidence. The men were 
now put to work at the pumps, and the ship was 
found to have leaked a great deal, a part of which 
was undoubtedly owing to the pitch, where she was 
calked, having boiled out of the seams. The water 
which was pumped up was quite hot at first, and as 
long as the men pumped, it continued to be warmer 
than the temperature of the sea, or of common bilge- 
water. 

"About 2, P. M., Monday, a sail was discovered 
from the mast-head, and soon after, it was seen from 
the deck. The joy which this discovery gave can 
be imagined, but cannot be described ; it seemed as 
if some would almost, if not quite, go crazy. The 
stranger saw our signals of distress, and being to the 
leeward, hove to for us to come up. It proved to be 
a Boston-built ship, called the Clifton, Captain J. B. 
Ingersoll, bound from Liverpool to New York, with 
two hundred and fifty steerage passengers, mostly 
Irish. To Capt. Anthony's statement, that his ship 
was on fire in the hold, and that we wanted to be 



THE POLAND. 349 

taken off, the prompt answer was, ' Come all on board 
of me, and bring all the provisions you can. 5 

" Before our own boat could be got out and manned, 
the boat of the Clifton, with the chief mate and four 
oarsmen, was alongside of us, and the process of trans- 
ferring all hands from ship to ship commenced. The 
sea was very high, and the gale was increasing, which 
made our task a long and dangerous one. From 3 until 
9 o'clock the two boats were passing and re-passing 
with people and such articles as could be saved from 
the deck. 

" The gale was now blowing from the northwest, 
and both captains remarked that they did not recollect 
ever to have seen a worse sea for many years. We 
were all safely on board by 9 o'clock ; and Capt. In- 
gersoll, not thinking it safe to risk his own ship any 
longer by laying to, in the vain hope of saving prop- 
erty, made sail on his ship, and we left the unfortu- 
nate Poland to burn up and sink, — a fate which she 
undoubtedly met within two or three hours. 

" At the time the last boat's load left the Poland, the 
deck had become too hot to stand upon, and her sides 
were so warm, that, as she rolled in the sea, the water 
would run off as from hot iron, and she would in- 
stantly become dry, and too hot to bear the hand upon. 
An effort was made to get out some articles from the 
house over the cabin stairs, but on opening the doors, 
the smoke, heat and deleterious gas drove the people 
away instantly, and a second attempt proved alike 
fruitless. A like attempt near the main hatch met 
with the like success, and the ship was abandoned 
with tears and regret ; for sailors imbibe an affection 
for the craft in which they have sailed, and they feel 
the loss more keenly than many people feel the loss of 
their friends and relatives. 

" On board the Clifton we met with a most cordial 
reception from Captain Ingersoll and his whole crew. 
We had been saved in life, but we had lost all our 
clothing ; and the chests of the sailors, and the trunks 

30 



350 SHIPWRECKS AND OTHER DISASTERS. 

of their commander, were freely opened, and their 
contents were as freely offered for our use. What 
inconveniences were suffered from the crowded state 
of the Clifton, and our own destitute condition, were 
of no moment. We were safe, and all things else 
were forgotten in a feeling of gratitude and thankful- 
ness to Almighty God for saving us from the death we 
had so long seen almost certain to us. 

"There were many incidents connected with this 
eventful period, the recollection of which*is interest- 
ing to those concerned ; but I have already taken up 
more room than I at first intended. I cannot con- 
clude, however, without remarking, that to Captain 
Anthony belongs all the credit that belongs to any one 
for preserving us so long. The card published by the 
passengers under their signatures, awards him no 
more than justice ; and might, with equal justice, have 
been made much stronger. He has acquired a hold upon 
our hearts that cannot be loosened but with life itself, 
and if ever man could retire, with a confidence that he 
had done his duty faithfully in the hour of danger, 
unflinching at the last moment, that satisfactory con- 
solation must be his. 

" It has been remarked by some, that the ship 
might have been scuttled, and that water might have 
been poured into her; but those who make such 
observations little know the danger to which such 
attempts would have exposed us. And to those who 
cavil at the fact that she was abandoned without fur- 
ther attempt to save the vessel and cargo, we can only 
reply that we hope they may never personally know 
how much more difficult it is to act in the hour of 
danger at sea, than it is to talk and find fault in safety 
on shore. 

" As for the passengers and crew, they deserve all 
praise. It appears now almost impossible that so 
much could have been done,— so much have been 
suffered, without confusion and without a murmur. 
From the first moment to the last there was order and 



THE TARIFF. 351 

regularity observed, and each one appeared to strive 
to make the burdens of the others as easy to bear as 
possible. The calm confidence of our female compan- 
ions, and their firm reliance upon the goodness of the 
Power which was afflicting them, served in a great 
measure to encourage their friends in the hard task of 
sustaining them until assistance came to hand. 

J. H. B." 



WRECK OF THE BRIG TARIFF, 

On Cohasset Rocks, March 26, 1840; in which 
Four Lives were lost, 

The brig Tariff, Capt. Walker, of Portland, from 
Matanzas, for Boston, with a cargo of molasses, was 
wrecked on Cohasset Rocks, before daylight on the 
morning of March 26, where she immediately went 
to pieces. Her upper works drifted ashore, — and the 
captain and three of the crew were saved. The re- 
maining four were lost. Scituate light was mistaken 
for Boston light, and the brig was so far in before the 
error was discovered, that she could not work off. 

The names of those lost were, Amos T. Chase, of 
Portland ; Joshua Howard, of Boothbay j John Scott 
and George Estes, of St. John, N. B. 




352 SHIPWRECKS AND OTHER DISASTERS. 



WRECK OF THE BRIG ESCAMBIA, 

On her Passage from Charleston to New York, 
March 25, 1840, with the loss of all on board, 
excepting one. 

The brig Escambia, Capt. Dunham, sailed from 
Charleston, March 24. On the next day, while under 
bare poles, and being between Fryingpan Shoals and 
Cape Lookout, the wind commenced blowing from 
the northeast, and increased during the day, until 
about 7 o'clock in the evening, when the vessel was 
thrown on her beam-ends. 

In this situation the brig continued until 9 o'clock, 
when she began to go down; the wind continuing 
to blow violently, and the sea running very high, and 
making a complete breach over her. 

Every one was washed from the wreck. The mate, 
William Bulkley, clung to the taffrail ; and after the 
vessel had entirely disappeared, he succeeded in reach- 
ing a part of the poop-deck, which had been disen- 
gaged from the rest of the vessel by the violence of the 
sea. Upon this he remained until 3 o'clock in the 
afternoon of Saturday, the 28th, when he was discov- 
ered and taken off by Capt. Whilden, of the schooner 
Marietta Ryan, bound for New York. 

The names of those on board were, Capt. Rufus 
Dunham; William Bulkley, first mate, saved; Edwin 
Hull, second mate; J. Chamberlain, cook; Isaac 
Tradle, steward; Henry Johnston, John Williams, 
John Peters, James Lucas, and Allen Jackson, sea- 
men. Mr. Wilber, of Newport, R. I., and two others, 
names unknown, were passengers. 



GOVERNOR CARVER. 353 



ENCOUNTER OF THE GOV. CARVER, 

And Remarkable Escape from an Iceberg, May 29, 

1818. 

The preservation of the brig Gov. Carver, Capt. 
S. Doten, of Plymouth, Mass., was thus described in 
a letter from the captain to the owners of the brig : — 

" Havre, June 23, 1818. 

" On the 29th of May, near the easterly end of the 
Grand Banks, it being very foggy, I discovered an 
object, apparently twice as high as our mast-heads, 
and appearing like a- water-spout. I did not think it 
possible that an island of ice could be so high. I 
immediately ordered the helm a-weather, hoping to 
get the vessel before the wind, and clear of the danger, 
whatever it might be ; but before this could be done, 
we found ourselves completely surrounded and cov- 
ered by this immense mountain of ice, which so pro- 
jected over our heads, that the water, which ran from 
it in streams and rivulets, fell over the vessel on the 
opposite side; and although our sail-booms were rigged 
out on the side next the ice, making a distance of 
twenty-seven feet from the centre of the brig, they did 
not touch it. 

"Fortunately, we succeeded in getting clear; and, 
in less than five minutes, and while so near that the 
rebounding of the water reached the vessel, this im- 
mense body of ice fell over, directly towards us, with 
a crashing noise resembling the heaviest thunder, 
which continued for the space of a minute and a 
half." 

30* 23 



354 SHIPWRECKS AND OTHER DISASTERS. 



SHIPWRECK OF THE GLASGOW, 

On the Irish Coast, Feb, 15, 1837; by which Disaster 
a number of lives were lost 

The ship Glasgow, Capt. Robinson, of New York, 
sailed from Liverpool for New York on the 8th 
of February, with about ninety passengers, chiefly 
English and Irish, of whom twenty were females; 
there were five cabin passengers; and the number 
of the crew, including the officers, was seventeen. 

From the time of her departure to the day previous 
to the unfortunate occurrence we are about to relate, 
she encountered a continuance of thick, hazy weather 
and contrary winds, which detained her, beating about 
the channel. On the 14th, the weather cleared up, 
and during the day, which was very fine, they were 
in sight of Tuskar Light, when they very reasonably- 
anticipated a prosperous voyage, being nearly clear 
of the channel. That night, however, the weather 
changed for the worse, becoming quite as thick and 
hazy as it had been on the preceding days of the 
voyage. At about 5 o'clock the next morning, the 
chief mate being in charge, while on the larboard 
tack, and going at the rate of seven or eight knots, 
the ship struck her larboard bow upon one of those 
dangerous half-tide rocks, called the Barrels, about 
eleven miles N. W. of Tuskar, making a large breach 
in her bow, through which the water rushed with 
tremendous violence. The sea running high at the 
time, she was carried over, and her stern striking on 
the rocks with great violence, unshipped the rudder. 
From the great way which was on the vessel, every 
sail being set, she went completely over the rocks into 
deep water. 

Just previous to her striking, and not till then, the 
dangerous proximity to the shore was perceived ; and 



THE GLASGOW. 355 

the captain came on deck barely in time to see her 
strike, without being able to prevent it. From wit- 
nessing the shock with which she was driven on the 
rocks, the captain expected she would certainly go 
down in a few minutes. The water was rushing in 
fore and aft as if through two sluices. The first shock 
apprized the passengers of their danger, and all rushed 
on deck, creating the scene of confusion usual in such 
frightful situations. 

Comparative order being restored, as far as possible, 
by the captain and his officers, they immediately com- 
menced getting out the long-boat, in doing which, they 
were obliged to cut away the gripes, when their axe, 
the only one that could be found, broke ; and they 
were obliged to turn their attention to the pinnace, a 
very small boat, not capable of affording security to 
one sixth the number in the vessel. But no oars could 
be found, and all hope being thus shut out, they 
looked upon their fate as being fixed, for the ship was 
fast sinking. 

During this awful period they kept ringing the 
beils, the only signal of distress which could be avail- 
able in such hazy weather. The scene on board was 
now dreadful; the passengers were agonized with 
their fears, and nearly frantic with the sudden pros- 
pect of so fearful a death ; whilst the captain, who, 
with the most determined of the crew, had done 
everything which human exertions could effect, now 
stood still, calmly awaiting the worst. 

At this period, a sail hove in sight. The schooner 
Alicia, of Wexford, Capt. Walsh, on their voyage 
from Dublin to Newport, had heard the signal, and 
immediately bore up in the direction from which the 
sounds proceeded. Providentially, they were heard 
by one of the most dauntless seamen that ever trod a 
deck ; and his schooner, one of the best vessels in the 
port, being in ballast, was the more easily managed. 
Capt. Walsh came up under the lee quarter of the ship, 
and hailed her, desiring them to send their boats with 



356 SHIPWRECKS AND OTHER DISASTERS. 

passengers, and that he would stand by them to the 
last at all hazards. To this Capt. Robinson answered 
that he had no oars ; upon which Capt. Walsh advised 
them to let a boat adrift with a crew, and he would 
furnish them with oars. The pinnace was immedi- 
ately turned off with four men in her, who were 
picked up and furnished with oars. As soon as they 
returned, the women and children were, with the 
most perfect regularity, sent on board the Alicia. In 
this manner the pinnace made three trips. The wind 
all the while increasing, the Alicia was unable to 
remain as near the vessel as her noble-hearted com- 
mander wished, and fearing the wreck would sink 
before all the people could be got out, he resolved to 
pass a hawser to her, by which he might hang the 
Alicia under the- ship's lee, and thus get them on. 
board more speedily. 

The ship was now like a log on the water; and 
from the sea, which was running very high, and the 
press of canvass upon the schooner, it was fully as 
dangerous, to approach her as a rock. Still, Capt. Walsh 
was not to be deterred, — and, in endeavoring to put 
his purpose into execution, he very nearly lost his own 
life, as well as the vessel of which he was commander 
and part owner. Being obliged to run to windward 
of the ship, he came in contact with such violence 
that the schooner's bulwarks were stove in, her 
channel bends upset, and her mainsail torn to pieces. 
Capt. Robinson, of the Glasgow, who described it to 
us, expressed his surprise that Capt. Walsh should 
run so daring a risk to save them, and said it was to 
him astonishing how the schooner escaped being lost. 
After getting free with great difficulty, Capt. Walsh 
continued sailing round the vessel, and succeeded in 
saving eighty-two of his fellow-creatures from destruc- 
tion. The water at length becoming level with the rail 
of the vessel, Capt. Robinson got into the launch, and 
had scarcely left the ship when she went down with 
the velocity of lightning, carrying with her about a 



THE HAROLD. 357 

dozen persons, who were still on her deck, amongst 
whom were the chief mate and one seaman ; of these, 
six were picked up, — three by the launch, and three 
by the pinnace. 

And now a new danger arose; for the boats, from 
the frequent striking against the ship, were so shat- 
tered, that they were barely kept afloat by men inces- 
santly bailing them, and they had to row a considera- 
ble distance to the schooner. In this, the hand of 
Providence was again discernible ; for the instant the 
men were out, the boats both sank alongside. The 
Glasgow sunk in twenty-five fathoms water. A few 
seconds after the vessel sunk, the air burst open her 
poop, and blew it up, together with spars, rigging, &c, 
as if she had been blown np with powder. Two or 
three persons were found clinging to the poop after it 
had been thus blown up. 

From comparing the number of passengers and 
crew with those who have been saved, it would 
appear that there were .twenty-five lost; yet the cap- 
tain and second mate have asserted that there were at 
the utmost but ten or twelve persons on the deck when 
she went down, at which time it was not probable 
that any person was below ; of these, six were saved, 
as before stated. 



CONFLAGRATION OF THE HAROLD, 

On her Passage from Calcutta to Boston, October 26, 

1837. 

The following account of the loss of the Harold, 
was communicated by Capt. Levi Howes, in a letter 
to the owner, under date of Pernambuco, Nov. 7, in 
substance as follows : — 

" The ship sailed from Calcutta July 16, and Sand 



358 



SHIPWRECKS AND OTHER DISASTERS. 



Heads 30th, all well, with a heavy cargo and two 
passengers, Messrs. Henry Erving, of Boston, and 
James J. Bell, of Chester, N. H. Had a pleasant pas- 
sage of seventeen days to the line. In latitude 50' N. 
Ion. 93° 20' E., Abraham Bangs, seaman, of Brew- 
ster, fell from the foremast head into the sea, and was 
lost. It is supposed that he was stunned by striking 
against something, as he sunk immediately, and al- 
though the ship was hove to, and the boat got out, he 
could not be found. Touched at St. Helena Oct. 14, 
and sailed again 15th. 




The Harold on fire. 



"At 8, P. M., Oct. 26, lat. 4° 30' S., Ion. 26° 25' W., 
smoke was discovered issuing from the after hatch. 
On going into the hold with a lantern, it was ascer- 
tained that the smoke came from amidships, and that 
the ship was evidently on fire. Capt. Howes then 
went immediately on deck, closed all the hatches, and 
made preparations to leave the ship, by hoisting out 
the boats, and placing in them provisions, light sails 
and spars. The long-boat was then dropped astern, 



THE HAROLD. 359 

and the jolly-boat kept alongside to leeward ; it being 
then half past 9 o'clock, P. M. Heavy volumes 
of smoke were seen issuing from the house and hatch. 
The captain gave immediate orders for all hands to 
embark in the boats as soon as possible. Messrs. 
Austin, Erving, Parkman, Bell, Mr. Nash, first officer, 
and three seamen, (Henry Knox, John Crome, and 
Michael, an Italian,) embarked in the jolly-boat along- 
side. Capt. Howes, the second mate, seven seamen, 
and the cook and steward got into the long-boat, 
astern, and had just time to shove off from the ship. 
Those who were in the jolly-boat were not so fortu- 
nate, for, before they could get clear of the ship, the 
fire burst her whole decks out, and she was one com- 
plete mass of fire and flame. Bales, cases, and other 
goods were seen thrown to the mast heads. The 
heat was so intense that those in the jolly-boat could 
not#ustain it, and were obliged to throw themselves 
into the sea, where they all perished, except Mr. Aus- 
tin and the two seamen, Knox and Crome, who were 
picked up at the imminent risk of swamping the long- 
boat. It was then 10 o'clock, P. M., and although 
only thirty minutes had elapsed since leaving the ship, 
she and the jolly-boat had burnt down to the water's 
edge, and sunk. 

They remained in that dangerous position a few 
minutes, but could learn nothing of the rest of those 
who had jumped from the jolly-boat, and were obliged 
to put the boat before the wind for safety. During 
the night she was kept before the wind, and those on 
board employed themselves in bailing the boat, and 
stopping the leaks. Next morning, masts were rigged 
and sails set, and the boat headed for the coast of 
Brazil, it being the nearest land, six hundred miles dis- 
tant W. by S., and arrived, Nov. 2, thirty-six miles 
north of Pernambuco, for which place they immedi- 
ately started, and reached it on the evening of the 4th. 
They proceeded immediately to the house of Mr. Ray, 
the United States consul, who received them with all 



360 SHIPWRECKS AND OTHER DISASTERS. 

possible kindness and hospitality, providing them 
lodgings in his own house, in which Capt. H. and Mr. 
Austin continued afterwards to reside. 

Capt. Howes states that he has every reason to 
believe that the fire originated in the lower hold ; be- 
cause, if it had originated in the between-decks, it 
could not possibly have communicated so soon to the 
saltpetre, which was all stowed in the lower hold, at 
the bottom of the ship. There was a large quantity 
of linseed on board, which was stowed in the lower 
hold forward, upon the saltpetre; and that has been 
known to ignite of itself when damaged by water. 
The ship leaked considerably forward in heavy 
weather, and the captain was of opinion that the 
water must have reached the linseed, and caused it 
to ferment to such a degree as to ignite the surround- 
ing cargo. He could assign no other cause, as no one 
had been into the hold for thirty days with a ight : 
besides, the smoke came from amidships, where no 
person had ever been after the ship left Calcutta. 

Five persons perished in the small boat, viz. — 
Henry Parkman ; Henry Erving, Boston ; Mr. James 
T. Bell, son of the late ex-governor Bell, of New 
Hampshire; Samuel P. Nash, the mate, and a sea- 
man, named Michael, an Italian. 

A friend, in a letter, alluding to the death of James 
Thorn Bell, son of the late ex-governor of New Hamp- 
shire, by the destruction of the ship Harold, states the 
following facts : — 

"Six years ago, Gov. John Bell was surrounded by 
a happy family of four beautiful and highly cultivated 
daughters, and three fine boys, who were all acquiring 
a classical education, that they might be prepared to 
fill worthily those high stations, which they seemed 
destined by birth and circumstances to occupy. 

" Now, the father is laid in his grave ; and his four 
daughters, two of whom have left husbands and chil- 
dren to mourn for them, have been laid by his side. 
His two oldest sons were members of Dartmouth Col- 



THE SCOTIA. 361 

lege. Within two years, the eldest travelled into the 
Southern States for his health, and died, and was 
buried among strangers. A little more than a year 
ago, James sailed for Calcutta, on the same errand. 
His health was partially restored, and he was return- 
ing to the embraces of his excellent mother and only 
surviving brother, and has found his grave in the 
depths of the ocean." 



MIRACULOUS PRESERVATION 

Of the crew of the Scotch ship Scotia, by the New 
York packet ship Roscius, Dec, 5, 1839. 

The ship Roscius, Capt. Collins, one of the New 
York packets, on her passage to Liverpool, Dec. 5, 
1839, fell in with the ship Scotia, bound from Quebec 
for Glasgow, water-logged. Dr. Madden, who was 
one of the passengers in the Roscius, has furnished 
the following interesting narrative of the rescue of the 
crew from a watery grave. 

' r In the afternoon of the 5th of December, we fell in 
with the wreck of the Scotia, bound from Quebec to 
Glasgow, burthen six hundred tons, loaded with timber, 
water-logged, in lat. 46°, Ion. 32° 30'. On seeing sig- 
nals of distress flying, we altered our course and bore 
down on her. On our vessel approaching, Capt. Collins 
hailed her. The answer was, ' We are water-logged, 
— seventeen feet of water in her hold ! ' The prompt 
reply of Capt. Collins, was, ■' If you want to come on 
board, put out your boats.' A cheer from the people 
of the sinking vessel followed ; such a cry as men in 
desperate circumstances alone could utter; and that 
thrilling cry went up as the simultaneous shout of 
men in the most extreme peril, suddenly restored to 

31 



362 SHIPWRECKS AND OTHER DISASTERS. 

life and hope; — and instantly every hat and cap was 
seen waving on the crowded poop. 

" An effort was now made to approach us ; but the 
water-logged vessel was utterly unmanageable. She 
pitched heavily, as if she would have gone down 
headlong; the seas swept over her, and, as she rose, 
poured through her broken ports. Her topmasts had 
been cut away to ease her ; and the poop-deck, where 
the crew were congregated, seemed the only place of 
safety left them. 

"In attempting to near, she came staggering down 
on us, and we were compelled to make sail to. get out 
of her way. The sea was very heavy. We again 
laid to, and were then about a mile from the Scotia. 
Night came on, and no boats were seen. The unfor- 
tunate Scotia was then lost sight of altogether. About 
6 o'clock, Oapt. Collins hoisted a lantern, and the light 
was immediately answered by the Scotia. It was the 
opinion of the captain that one of their boats had put 
off and had been swamped in attempting to reach us, 
and that the survivers had determined to wait till 
morning before another attempt was made. It seemed 
indeed doubtful, in the extreme, if any small boats 
could live in such a sea. It is impossible to suf- 
ficiently commend the conduct of Captain Collins, as 
his anxiety to reach Liverpool before the steamer, 
which was to have sailed six days after us, made 
every moment of importance. We had, moreover, 
seventy steerage passengers, and twenty-one in the 
cabin ; and to forego taking advantage of a fair wind, 
and to lay to for a night in a heavy sea, with every 
appearance of an approaching gale, was a determina- 
tion which, I greatly fear, many a master of a ship 
would have found great difficulty in forming and 
acting on. Capt. Collins, however, made this resolu- 
tion promptly, and without any expression of im- 
patience at the detention it occasioned. His only 
observation Was, 'We must stay by them, at all 



THE SCOTIA. 363 

events, till morning ; we cannot leave them to perish 
there.' 

"At 6 o'clock in the evening, cheering was heard in 
the direction of the Scotia. The people, we supposed, 
had taken to the boats, and had then left the sinking 
vessel. In the course of an hour, or rather less, the 
long-boat of the Scotia, filled with men, was on our lee 
quarter. By the admirable arrangements'which were 
then made by Capt. Collins for rescuing them, the men 
were taken on board without the least accident. This 
boat brought eighteen ; the captain and five men still 
remained on board the wreck, and were preparing to 
put off in the jolly-boat. No little anxiety was felt 
for the safety of this small boat. In the course of half 
an hour, however, she was seen ; and, with two oars 
only, she gained the Roscius, and the captain and his 
five men were soon taken on board. To the credit of 
Capt. Jeans of the Scotia, be it observed, that he was 
the last man to leave the sinking ship. The anxiety 
expressed by the men who came in the first boat for 
the safety of their captain, and, indeed, the terms in 
which the whole of his people, then and subsequently, 
spoke of him. showed how highly he was respected 
and esteemed by his crew ; and, if he had not been so, 
he would, probably, not have kept his ship afloat so 
long as he had done. Nor was the anxiety of Capt. 
Jeans for the safety of his crew less manifest. The first 
question he asked on coming on board the Roscius, 
was, 'Are all my people safe?' The captain and 
crew were all Scotch ; and their conduct throughout 
reflected no discredit on their country. 

"When they came on board, they were worn out 
with continual exertion. The men had been night 
and day at the pumps since the previous Tuesday. 
But, exhausted as they were, they immediately turned 
to, and, with one accord, went on deck and did duty 
with our crew; and no sooner were the boats cast 
adrift, than there was ample occasion for their ser- 
vices; — a violent gale from thy northeast set in, 



364 SHIPWRECKS AND OTHER DISASTERS. 

which must have rendered it utterly impossible for the 
people to have taken to their boats; and the violence 
of which, on the following day, must have been inevi- 
tably fatal; for it would have been impossible to have 
kept the pumps going, — and the sea already, even 
before the gale from the northeast set in, was making 
a clear breach over her, and threatening to carry away 
her poop-cabin, the last place of refuge left for the 
poor people of the Scotia, except the top, where they 
had already stowed water and provisions, in the 
momentary expectation of being compelled to aban- 
don the deck. Thus providentially was it that 
twenty-four human beings were preserved from a 
watery grave. 



SHIPWRECKS AND OTHER DISASTERS, 

In the vicinity of Boston and Cape Ann, which 
occurred during the Tremendous Gale and Snow 
Storm of Dec. 15 and 16, 1839. 

It has, probably, never before fallen to tne lot of 
the inhabitants of New England to have witnessed so 
many terrible disasters, by tempest and sea, and in so 
brief a period, as in the furious and destructive gales 
which swept along our coast within the last two 
weeks of December, 1839, — carrying desolation and 
death in their destructive pathway, and overwhelm- 
ing numerous families in the deepest gloom of heart- 
felt mourning. 

Often as we have been called to mourn with those 
who have mourned over the sad wreck of human 
hopes, we have never met with any more calculated 
to excite the sympathy and commiseration of the 
friends of humanity, than the melancholy events 
which it is our duty to record. 



BOSTON HARBOR. 365 

In giving an account of the distressing shipwrecks, 
the loss of life, and loss of property, which have been 
the terrific results of this tempest along the New En- 
gland shore, we have taken much pains to collect our 
materials from the most authentic sources. 



DISASTERS IN BOSTON HARBOR. 

In Boston, the snow storm commenced about 3 
o'clock on Sunday morning, December 15, with a 
strong northeast wind, which continued throughout 
the day, occasionally relapsing into rain. In the 
course of the day the wind increased, and blew with 
great fury from the eastward; and in the evening, 
for several hours, it amounted to a perfect hurricane, 
blowing with more violence than had been known 
for years. The gale continued through the night, 
but abated somewhat after midnight. 

Most of the vessels in the stream dragged their an- 
chors ; and much damage was done to the shipping 
lying at the wharves, — some few of the particulars of 
which we give the reader : 

Schooner Harwich, lying at anchor in the stream, 
was forced against the ship Columbiana, — one of the 
New Orleans packets, moored at a wharf, — and 
carried away her mainmast, stove her stauncheons, 
bulwarks, &c. The Columbiana had her cutwater 
knocked off, was badly chafed, and had her anchor 
torn away. 

Schooner Clarinda, of Boston, and a lighter sloop, 
lying at the same wharf, sunk alongside. 

Ship Propontis, of Boston, from Cadiz, broke adrift, 
tore out her timber heads, and drove up the dock. 

Ship Forum, of Boston, parted her moorings, and 
drove up the dock, — she stove in her stern, had her 
fore topmast carried away, and sustained other injury, 

31=* 



366 SHIPWRECKS AND OTHER DISASTERS. 

Ship Sterling, of Boston, broke adrift, and was very 
much chafed by falling across the dock. 

Brig Banian, of Boston, from Matanzas, dragged 
from the stream, and received considerable damage 
from contact with the vessels at the wharves. 

At one of the wharves much damage was caused 
by the barque Creole, which drove from the stream, 
and came in contact with the brig Adelaide, which 
lost her bowsprit and was severely chafed. The 
Adelaide dragged against the Hamburg brig Erdwina, 
and damaged her sides, chain plates, &c. 

A lighter schooner was sunk by another vessel's 
bowsprit driving into her stern. 

Schooner Herperus, of Gardiner, from Pittston, at 
anchor in the stream, parted her chain, drove against 
ship Wm. Badger, parted her fasts, and both drove 
up, across the dock, lowest side to the sea; the 
schooner carried away bowsprit, and stove her bow 
port in. The ship had her side badly chafed, and the 
end of her jib-boom stove in the upper window of a 
four story brick store on the wharf. 

Brig Adelaide, for Trinidad, carried away her bow- 
sprit, &c. 

The Hamburg brig Erdwina, for Baltimore, chafed 
all her sheathing off fore and aft, split several planks, 
and stove a hole in her side, carried away chains fore 
and aft, jib-boom and main-boom. 

Brig Gertrude, from Mansanilla, stove part of her 
stern, and carried away bowsprit. 

Sloop Star filled and sunk. 

Brig Cyprus was considerably chafed. 

Schooner Clorinda lost her foremast and bowsprit, 
filled and sunk. 

Sloop Hepzibah filled and sunk. 

Schooner Thomas, from Portland, dragged her an- 
chors in the stream, drove against a wharf, and started 
several planks in her larboard quarter. 

Brig Banian, from Matanzas, dragged her anchors 
in the stream, drove in to the Eastern Packet Pier 



GLOUCESTER. 



367 



wharf, both anchors ahead. 
&c. 



stove boat, storehouses. 



The schooner Catherine Nichols, from Philadelphia 
for Boston, went ashore on Sunday, at 4 o'clock, P. M., 
on the S. W. side of Nahant, and three of the crew 
were drowned, the captain and one man saved. 



DISASTERS IN GLOUCESTER HARBOR, 
In the Gale of December 15, 1839. 

We are indebted to a friend in Gloucester, who has 
kindly furnished us with the materials for the follow- 
ing account of the destruction of life and property in 
that harbor, on Sunday, December 15. 




Gloucester Harbor during the storm. 



Never have we witnessed so severe a storm, or one 
so disastrous and melancholy in its results, as that 



368 SHIPWRECKS AND OTHER DISASTERS. 

which. set in on Sunday morning. Snow and ram 
came together, accompanied with a high wind from 
the southeast, which soon increased to a gale almost 
unprecedented for violence, and which continued 
without abatement the whole of that day and most of 
Monday. Property and life have been swept away, to 
an almost unparalleled extent; and the scenes of suf- 
fering and desolation that have been brought before 
their eyes, have involved a whole community in sor- 
row. 

. On Sunday morning there was in our harbor about 
sixty sail of vessels, which had put in, in anticipation 
of a storm. Of this large fleet, all that could be seen 
at anchor on Monday morning were about twenty ', and 
they having every mast and spar cut away, — a soli- 
tary pole in each only standing to bear aloft a signal 
of distress, and for assistance. These, tossing as they 
were like egg-shells upon a violent sea, and exposed 
to the yet raging gale, liable every moment to part 
their cables and be driven to sea with all on board, 
presented a scene melancholy in the extreme. But 
when the eye rested upon the long line of wrecks 
that were strewed along the shore, and the innumera- 
ble fragments of others, together with their scattered 
cargoes, — with here and there the cold and stiffened 
corpse of a fellow-creature, and the straggling groups 
of the suffering survivers, — the feeling heart was sub- 
dued, and the strongest sympathy awakened in the 
breasts of all. 

Below we give an abstract of the particulars con- 
nected with this calamitous loss of life and property, 
and a list of the names of the vessels wrecked or 
otherwise damaged, prepared with much care, and 
which we believe to be mainly correct. 

Sloop Eagle, of Bath, — crew saved, vessel and 
cargo lost. 

Sch. Eliza & Betsey, of Mount Desert, — sunk at 
her anchors, crew lost, their names were Joseph Gott, 
Alpheus Gott, Peter Gott, and Joseph Gott. 



GLOUCESTER. 369 

Sch. Boston, of Belfast, — crew saved, vessel and 
cargo lost. 

Sch. Mary Jane, of Portland, — cut away masts, 
stove deck load, and afterwards brought into harbor, — 
crew taken off. 

Sch. Columbia, of Bremen, Me., — total wreck, — 
two men drowned, whose names were Wm. Wallace 
and Wm. Hofses. 

Sch. Neutrality, of Portland, — crew saved, vessel 
and cargo lost. 

Sch. St. Cloud, from New York for Prospect, — total 
wreck, — crew saved. 

Sch. Favorite, of Wiscasset, — vessel and cargo lost, 
— two were drowned, Mr. William Mann and Mrs. 
Sally Hilton. 

Sch. Sally, of Wiscasset, — vessel and cargo lost, — 
Capt. Drake and his brother were drowned. 

Sch. Fame, of Ellsworth, — vessel bilged, — crew 
saved. 

Sch. Delta, of Augusta, — vessel stranded above high 
water mark, no lives lost. 

Sch. Sarah, of Portsmouth, — no lives lost, cargo 
partly saved. 

Sloop Portland, of Brunswick, — driven ashore, no 
lives lost. 

Sch. Prudence, of Prospect, — crew saved, vessel 
and cargo lost. 

Sch. Sally & Mary, of Bristol, — crew saved, vessel 
and cargo lost. 

Sch. Industry, of Prospect, — crew saved, vessel and 
cargo lost. 

Sch. Mary Frances, of Belfast, — just as the custom- 
house boat boarded her, her last cable parted, and she 
went to sea • the boat took off the crew and two pas- 
sengers, Mr. B. F. Blackstone, and Dr. Boyden, of 
Belfast. 

Sch. Yolant, — wrecked, crew supposed to be saved. 

Sch. Mary Gould, — wrecked, crew saved. 

Sch. Charlotte, — wrecked, crew saved. 
24 



370 SHIPWRECKS AND OTHER DISASTERS. 

Sch. Walrus, of Bucksport, — wrecked at Pigeon 
Cove, crew all perished; four of the bodies found. 

Sch. Brilliant, of Mount Desert, — vessel and cargo 
lost, and the captain (Amos Eaton) and two of the 
crew drowned. 

Sch. Milo, of Bristol, — vessel and cargo lost, and 
one man (Samuel Sprawl) drowned. 

Sch. Splendid, of New Castle,— vessel and cargo 
lost, crew saved. 

Sch. North Carolina, of Calais, from Calais, bound 
to Newport, with lumber, — cut away mast and rode 
out the gale, but sustained other injury by vessels 
drifting afoul of her. 

Sch. Antioch, of Ellsworth, — broke away from her 
anchors; cut away her masts, and brought her to; 
rode at her anchors some time, and then parted one 
chain, and held on with one anchor. The crew left 
her about 2 o'clock in the afternoon, and at 3 she 
drifted out to sea ; she was afterwards discovered at 
Cohasset Rocks, gone to pieces. 

The following schooners were dismasted : — Supe- 
rior, of Ellsworth ; John, of Thomaston; Win. Penn, 
of Machias; Gen. Jackson, of St. George; Mercator, 
of Danvers ; Fame, of Augusta ; Favorite, of Glou- 
cester ;' Martha Ann, of Eden ; Patriot, of Thomas- 
ton ; Orlen, of Waldoboro' ; Harriet, of Westport ; 
Edward, of Mount Desert; Mary Ann, of Ellsworth; 
Fawn, of Long Island ; Fair Play, of Weymouth ; In- 
crease, of Bristol ; Julia Ann, of Sedgwick ; Resolu- 
tion, of Harps well ; Congress, of Mount Desert; Ma- 
rine, of Portland ; Economy, of Islesboro' ; Henrietta, 
of Westport ; Ariel, of Boston ; Alert, of Woolwich ; 
Fair Play, of Boston ; Norman, of Thomaston. 

Sch. Cassius, of Prospect, — stern damaged and boat 
lost. 

Sch. Cooper's Fancy, of Mount Desert, — vessel sunk, 
crew saved. 

The sch. St. Thomas, of Haverhill, from Baltimore, 
rode out the gale in safety ; she left, off Cape Cod, or 



GLOUCESTER. 371 

Saturday night, one ship, two barques, and six brigs, 
— thick snow storm and blowing a gale. 

We have thus given a long list of the disasters 
which occurred in Gloucester harbor during the gale 
and storm of Dec. 15 and 16, — making twenty-two 
total wrecks, — thirty-three vessels dismasted and oth- 
erwise injured, — with the loss, as actually ascer- 
tained, of more than twenty human beings. 

The bodies of twelve of those who perished, hav- 
ing been thrown ashore, were recovered. These, 
(with the exception of the remains of Mrs. Hilton, 
which had been removed to Boston by her friends,) 
were, on the following Sabbath, interred from the 
First Parish Church of Gloucester, where, in the 
presence of an immense audience, an appropriate dis- 
course was delivered by the Rev. Josiah K. Waite, 
and the obsequies performed. A procession was 
formed, consisting, it is computed, of between two and 
three thousand people, who followed the dead to the 
place of burial. 

The following are the names of the deceased, as 
marked upon their coffins : 

Amos Eaton, master of schooner Brilliant. 

A , I r ? , , f of schooner Betsey & Eliza. 
Alpheus Gott, \ J 

William Hofses, ) - T ^ , , . 

William Wallace, | of schooner Columbm. 

Joshua Nickerson, master of schooner Walrus. 

Isaac Dacker. 

Reuben Rider. 

Phillip Galley, — and two bodies, names unknown. 

The following letters, from a gentleman in Glou- 
cester, will be found to possess much interest. 

" Gloucester, Sunday night, Dec. 15. 
" We have experienced a most disastrous gale of wind 



372 SHIPWRECKS AND OTHER DISASTERS. 

here to-day from E. S. E. A fleet of fifty vessels, 
which came out of Portland yesterday, put in here this 
morning in a thick snow storm, — from seventeen to 
twenty of which, as near as can be ascertained, have 
gone ashore in our harbor, and are total wrecks. 

" Our oldest sea captains say they have not experi- 
enced a gale like this since that of 1815. Truly we 
have been called upon to-day to witness the most 
heart-rending scenes ; aye, to stand on shore and see 
the poor sailors clinging to the last fragment of their 
frail bark, and staring grim death in the face, fully 
determined upon their fate. 

" Hundreds of our energetic and praiseworthy citi- 
zens, with undaunted courage, immediately repaired 
to the scene of disaster, and they have done all in 
their power to save the dying and drowning — and 
many, at the peril of their lives, like heroes, rushed 
into the surf and dragged men and women, by means 
of ropes, on shore, in an exhausted state; but, alas ! 
many were doomed to the fate of a watery grave. 

l: Too much praise cannot be bestowed on the un- 
bounded hospitality of our townsmen, in administer- 
ing to the wants and comforts of these shipwrecked 
hardy sons of Neptune. To-morrow will be a sad 
day in gathering up the mangled bodies of the dead. 

"I will close this mournful epistle, by adding, that 
the rain continues to pour in torrents, and the gale has 
not as yet abated any. The roar of the sea, resemb- 
ling distant thunder, can be heard for miles along our 
rock-bound shore. Most melancholy music ! I doubt 
if the gale has been worse on our whole coast, than 
we have experienced it in Cape Ann." 

"Gloucester, Tuesday night, Dec. 17. 

"Since I last, addressed you, I have gathered the 
following additional particulars relative to 'the late dis- 
astrous gale experienced on our shores. 

"A schooner, name unknown, drove ashore about 3 
o'clock on Monday morning, near the Cove. Part of 



GLOUCESTER. 373 

the crew were saved. She belonged to Bucksport, 
and was loaded with corn, flonr and furniture. Vessel 
a total wreck : cargo partly saved in a damaged state. 
Two other vessels came ashore and went to pieces, — 
not a soul saved, yet heard of. The schooner Pru- 
dence, of Prospect, Splendid, of Newcastle, and Mary 
& Eliza, of Belfast, have bilged, all lumber loaded. 
During the height of the gale on Sunday night, about 
twenty-three vessels were forced to cut away their 
masts to save them from a perilous fate. 

'•Yesterday morning, T paid a visit to the awful 
scene of destruction, and what a melancholy sight did 
I behold ! The whole shore, as far as the eye could 
extend, was literally strewn with dead bodies, in a 
horribly disfigured and mutilated state, so much so 
that many of their fellow-sailors were unable to re- 
cognise them. Truly, this scene was enough to chill 
the blood of any eye witness, or melt a heart of ada- 
mant. Scattered here and there were ten thousand 
broken fragments of vessels, trunks, chests, boxes, 
bales, wood and lumber, — the whole presenting a most 
frightful spectacle ; and yet all this immense loss of 
life and property seemed but the work of a moment, 
directed by the hand of Almighty Providence. But 
enough ; my heart already sickens at the recital of this 
horrid tragedy. 

" Some of our citizens, with a deep-felt sympathy, 
which they have nobly manifested from the outset, 
yesterday afternoon resolutely determined, at the 
imminent risk of their own lives, to volunteer their 
assistance to the remainder of these almost perishing 
and distressed mariners. Wind still blowing, snow 
flying and the sea breaking, so as to render the attempt 
extremely hazardous, and fraught with danger, yet 
they gallantly manned their boats, and ere the sun 
had set, they safely landed in comfortable quarters 
ninety human beings, all from dismasted vessels, two 
of which, with valuable property, immediately parted 
their cables and went to sea. The escape proved 

32 



374 SHIPWRECKS AND OTHER DISASTERS. 

almost miraculous. This generous deed, on the part 
of our fishermen, needs no comment of mine. 

"About one hundred wreckers have been constantly 
employed, night and day, in saving all the property 
within reach. 

" At Sandy Bay, two vessels drove on a ledge or 
rocks, with cargoes of flour and grain, and went to 
pieces, — all hands lost. The pier or breakwater, 
(that gigantic structure of stone,) at this place, also 
yielded to the fury of the elements, it being torn up 
about ninety feet. The stone fillers, weighing seven 
and eight tons, all started out. This fact seems 
almost incredible. I have also heard of a wreck at 
Coffin's beach. At all events, I am credibly informed 
that the Austrian barque, which stranded a short time 
since, is now no more. 

U I feel it a duty I owe to myself, and in justice to 
the noble liberality of our fellow-citizens, to state, that 
a public meeting was called last evening, to come to 
the aid of our shipwrecked mariners. The call was 
warmly responded to, and the meeting duly organized. 
Motions were moved and seconded, resolutions unani- 
mously adopted, committees chosen, papers' drawn up, 
and the sum of $500 subscribed oh the spot. This act 
of generosity will ever redound to the honor of the 
inhabitants of the town of Gloucester. 

" The total number of wrecked and dismasted ves- 
sels is about forty. From twenty-five to thirty lives 
were lost, perhaps more ; twelve of the bodies have 
been found and taken care of." 

The following extract of a letter from the Rev. C. 
M. Nichols, of Gloucester, is a description of the 
human suffering which he was called to witness dur- 
ing the late gale of December 15. 

" There were about sixty vessels in the harbor 
when the gale commenced. They began to break 
away from their moorings about 4 o'clock, P. M. 
At an early hour I repaired to the beach. There, 



GLOUCESTER. 375 

amid the roar of waves, the crash of falling masts, and 
the fragments of broken vessels and their cargoes, 
dashing furiously together, the scene was awful be- 
yond description. Probably twenty or thirty sailors 
perished ! I heard their piteous cries for help, but 
could not help them. Hundreds of us were within 
twenty yards, and, in some cases, within ten, and yet 
were unable to afford relief. 

" I will select a single instance, which will give you 
some idea of the whole scene. It is the fate of the 
schooner Brilliant, of Mount Desert. I saw her when 
she first struck adrift. She was a large schooner, 
loaded with stone. The situation of the crew was 
perilous in the extreme; and when they found that 
they must go ashore, they slipped their cables and ran 
her, bows on. The sea broke over her so high, that 
the men were obliged to go up into the fore rig- 
ging. After lying for a while in this position, — not 
more than once and half her length from the bank, — 
she was, by a very heavy wave, brought side to the 
shore. Soon she began to break up, commencing 
about midships. The eyes of all were now fixed with 
intense anxiety upon this vessel. She was the last one 
that went to pieces. We saw that the situation of the 
crew, who were in the starboard fore rigging, off shore, 
was utterly hopeless. I felt — and could not help 
expressing my feelings to some who stood near me, — 
' Were I in their situation, I should want a very clear 
hope of heaven, and a very strong faith.' If ever I 
offered an earnest prayer, it was then, and in their 
behalf. We stood, every moment expecting to see the 
masts fall. The wave at length came which deter- 
mined their fate; both masts fell off shore, and we 
knew the men were under them ! All was still as 
death, — the very winds and waves, for a moment, 
seemed hushed in solemn pause. Nothing more did 
we expect to hear from the ill-fated seamen. But in a 
few moments the piercing cry came, ' A rope, a rope !\ 
It produced great excitement among those on the 



376 SHIPWRECKS AND OTHER DISASTERS. 

shore, but all attempts to send them the desired aid 
were vain. We heard that cry again, — but nothing 
could be done. We waited fifteen or twenty minutes, 
and supposed that all was over. A number of us had 
left the beach, when one man, after being in the water 
for half or three quarters of an hour, was seen in the 
surf, and drawn out alive ; the bodies of two others 
were found under the broken fragments after the tide 
had fallen ; the rest have not been found. 

"From one vessel a rope was sent to the shore, 
and two men on board made themselves fast to it ; 
but, unhappily, it caught foul, and with the strength 
of all who could reach it, we could not get it clear. 
The men perished, while one end of the rope to which 
they were attached, was in our hands ! On board 
another vessel, lying within twenty or thirty feet 
of those who stood on the bank, a lady and gentle- 
man were seen till the last fragments were broken up, 
and then sunk before our eyes into a watery grave. 
In other cases, the struggling sufferers were washed 
away by the retreating wave, just as they were about 
to grasp the hand that could almost reach them from 
the shore. 

" The next morning, the whole beach was covered 
with the spars, and timbers, and broken cargoes of 
nearly twenty vessels; while here and there might be 
seen a mangled human form, in some instances so 
wedged between the crevices of the rocks that they 
could not be moved till the tide had left them. 
Such a scene I never witnessed before, and hope I 
may never be called to witness the like again." 



DISASTERS AT OTHER PLACES, 

On the shores of New England,— at Newkryport, 
Marblehead, Cohasset, and at Provincetown, in 
the Gale and Snow Storm of December 15 and 16, 
1839, 

Newburyport. — From 10 to 12 o'clock on Sunday 
night, Dec. 15, the wind, which had shifted a point 
or two more to the N. E., blew a perfect hurricane. 
Several of the wharves, which were overflowed by 
the high tide, were much injured, and large quanti- 
ties of wood, lumber, &c., were floated into the docks. 
About fifteen or twenty vessels, lying at the wharves, 
suffered more or less damage, — though none were 
wrecked, nor, according to the best authority we can 
find, were there any lives lost. 

The keeper of the lights on Plum Island, describes 
the tide as having flowed quite across the island in a 
number of places, making many deep ravines, and 
causing many acres of meadow land to be covered 
with sand. The hotel and site, with almost all the 
buildings, were surrounded with one entire sheet of 
water, as well as the road leading to the bridge. 
The violence of the gale was such as to remove many 
sand hills, forming at the same time many lakes and 
ponds. He also remarked that the whole eastern 
side of the island had washed away to an astonishing 
degree. 

Marblehead. — During the gale at Marblehead, the 
schooner Minerva, from Pittston, Kennebec, bound to 
32* 



378 SHIPWRECKS AND OTHER DISASTERS. 

Plymouth with wood, hay, &c., cut away both masts 
and bowsprit, and threw over deck load of hay. 

Sch. Paul Jones drove high and dry on the rocks 
and bilged. 

Sch. Sea Flower, with a cargo of corn and flour, 
stranded on the beach, making a total loss of vessel 
and part of the cargo. 

Sch. Brilliant lost her main boom, and had her stern 
ripped down. 

Sch. Tasso, slightly damaged. 

On River Head Beach, the schooners Mary, John 
Q,. Adams, Plutus, Two Brothers, and the Burling- 
ton, (the latter lost her rudder,) were all driven up 
high and dry, but have since been got off. 

The stern of a small craft was found on River 
Head Beach, probably wrecked on one of the islands 
at the mouth of the harbor. 

Cohasset. — The Swedish brig Preciosa, which sailed 
from Boston on Saturday, Dec. 14, anchored inside 
Cohasset Rocks, Monday forenoon, and cut away both 
masts. 

Sch. Antioch, of Ellsworth, laden with lumber, and 
supposed to have drifted out of Cape Ann harbor, 
struck on Nichol's Rock about 7 o'clock on Tuesday 
morning, and went to pieces; she was dismasted, and 
had no one on board when she struck. 

Sch. Margaret, of Bath, was driven high and dry. 

British brig Susannah drove up to Quincy. 

British schooner H. Davenport, for Annapolis, went 
ashore on Hospital Island. 

Provincetown. — The following are extracts from a 
letter, dated Provincetown, Dec. 17, 1839 : 

" The brig Rideout, from Bath for Matanzas, came 
into the outer breakers, on the back of the Capes, 
about 2 o'clock this afternoon, immediately capsized, 
and all on board perished. She was a new brig, on 
her first voyage. 



GALE AT BOSTON AND CAPE ANN. 379 

"A Portland brig, from Havana for Boston, with 
sugar and molasses, went ashore about one mile north 
of Highland Light, — vessel and cargo a total loss, — 
two of the crew drowned. 

" Sloop Independence, of Charlestown, loaded with 
sand, sunk the same day. The crew took to the rig- 
ging, where they remained two hours, and, after two 
attempts, they were rescued by a whale-boat, doubly 
manned. 

" Since writing the above, I learn there is another 
brig in the outer breakers on the back of the Capes, 
with the crew in the tops. Also, a large schooner, 
resembling a New York packet, with both masts cut 
away. Likewise, a large lumber-loaded brig in the 
surf, — masts cut away, deck load gone ; the crew are 
on board, but no assistance can yet be rendered them, 
though many people will remain on the beach, during 
the night, to render assistance if possible." 



ANOTHER DISASTROUS GALE, 

In the vicinity of Boston and Cape Ann, December, 
27, 1839. 

A letter from Boston states the following particu- 
lars of the gale in that place : — 

"On the night of Friday, Dec. 27, we were visited 
with another very severe storm, from E. S. E. It 
commenced raining early in the evening, and, in a 
short time after, it began to blow very violently, and 
continued until midnight, when it increased to a furi- 
ous hurricane, not abating until about 7 o'clock next 
morning. The destruction of property is very great. 
The tide rose higher than it did in the gale of the 
15th of this month, and overflowed the wharves, 
doing great damage to them, and injuring considera- 



380 SHIPWRECKS AND OTHER DISASTERS. 

ble property in the cellars. A great quantity of. lum- 
ber was washed from the wharves. The Front street 
dyke was broken down, owing to which the water 
overflowed nearly all the low land between Front and 
Washington streets." 

The damage done to the shipping in the harbor was 
very great. 

The ship Geneva, of New York, had her bowsprit 
and head-rigging carried away, her starboard anchor 
torn from the bow, which, hanging by the chain, badly 
chafed her cut-water. Her head and stem, to the 
water's edge, were completely smashed level with the 
bow. 

Four water boats were sunk at the wharves. 

Sloop Helen, from New Bedford, drove from her 
anchors in the stream into one of the docks, and car- 
ried away her mast and bowsprit. 

Ship Argo lost head, carried away bobstays, and 
was otherwise damaged about the bows. 

Sch. Allen, from Jacmel, lost topmasts — was cut 
down amidships, and broke from her fastenings. 

Brig Lincoln, from Havana, struck on the Spit, 
knocked off her rudder, lost fifty hhds. molasses from 
off the deck, cut away mainmast, beat over, anchored, 
and rode out the gale. 

Ship Concordia parted her stern fasts, drove against 
the stern of brig Magnet, injuring the stem of the ship 
and the stern of the brig. The latter also tore away 
her chain plates, which had just been renewed in con 
sequence of injuries in the previous gale. 

A letter from Charlestown, dated Dec. 28, says : 
"One of the most singular and remarkable wreckb 
occurred during the gale of last night and this morn- 
ing, which we have ever had to record. 

" The ship Columbiana, of over six hundred tons 
burthen, was lying last night at Swett's warf, in this 
town, and broke from her fastenings this morning, 
about 5 o'clock, at near high tide. She was partly 



GALE IN BOSTON. 381 

loaded with ice. Driven by the wind and tide together, 
she came bows on against the old Charlestown bridge, 
and made a clean breach through it. She next brought 
up against the wharf at the draw of Warren bridge, 
and here the scene was most remarkable. A story- 
and-a-half house stood upon the wharf, occupied by 
Mr. Dix, who is engaged in attending the draw of the 
bridge, lighting lamps, &c- Himself and family, con- 
sisting of nine persons, were in bed at the time, and 
all escaped without any injury, notwithstanding the 
building was entirely demolished. No two parts of it 
are left together, but all presents a scene of chaos 
which cannot be imagined. One large fragment of 
the chimney stands poised many feet from its original 
position, and directly beneath it is the family bureau, 
bedding and chairs. Part of the roof was thrown 
overboard, and another part projected on the bridge. 
The piers on which it stood, forming a part of the 
wharf, are broke or bent over, and the flooring carried 
away. The bridge was much injured — the fencing 
broken down and the sidewalk thrown up for some 
distance. 

"It is remarkable in what manner the inmates suc- 
ceeded in escaping with their lives and limbs. One 
man, we are told, was thrown overboard, but suc- 
ceeded in regaining the wharf, without receiving in- 
jury. The children were also saved from their beds 
without harm, and found shelter in a fruit shop at the 
hither end of the bridge. 

" The ship probably slipped her fastenings, on ac- 
count of the very high tide, which flowed over many 
of the wharves. She does not appear to be at all 
injured, unless her bottom be chafed. We are told 
that Captain Barker was on board the ship until mid- 
night, and, finding all safe, left the mate in charge: 
who, when he found the vessel adrift, took the helm 
and steered her. She passed directly through the Ox- 
bridge, as though there had been no obstacle in her 
way. She would also have passed through the War- 



382 SHIPWRECKS AND OTHER DISASTERS. 

ren bridge, had not the mate luffed her so as to strike 
the wharf, and bring her broadside to the bridge. By 
this movement the bridge was saved." 

Newburyport — In a letter from Newburyport, the 
following particulars are given : — 

"On Friday night we were visited with another 
destructive gale, being the third which has occurred 
during the present month. The wind, which had 
blown a fresh breeze during the evening, strength- 
ened to a strong gale soon after 10 o'clock, and at 
midnight greatly increased in violence, and did not 
abate until towards daylight. The tide is stated to 
have risen higher than it has at any time before for 
thirty years, completely overflowing all the wharves, 
and setting adrift and destroying a large amount of 
property. The damage to the shipping at the wharves 
has also been much greater than has ever been expe- 
rienced before. 

" The Panama, of Wells, a large topsail schooner, 
lying at Bailey's wharf, with part of a cargo of flour 
and corn on board, sunk at the wharf. 

"Sch. Actor, partly loaded with salt, onions, &c., 
for the south, filled and sunk at the wharf. 

"The schooners Harmony, Van, and Union, also 
sunk at the wharves. 

"The schooner Vulture, had her main topmast 
broken off, parted her fasts, stove in her stem, and 
sustained considerable other damage. 

" A new brig, lying at the head of Cushing's wharf, 
was so badly chafed, that many of her planks wiH 
have to be taken out. 

"Sch. Nun, which came in from Boston, just be- 
fore the commencement of the gale, with a valuable 
cargo, parted her fasts, and drove to the upper side of 
a mast yard, where, after breaking off her bowsprit, 
davits, and tearing out one side of a shed, she lay in 
a snug berth. 



NEWBURYPORT. 383 

"Schrs. Traveller, of Wells, and Herald, of this port, 
had their sterns stove in. 

" Schrs. Tom Bowling and Orison, of Wells, lost 
their bowsprits. 

" Sch. Nancy, which was badly damaged in the 
gale of the 15th, and had just been repaired, was 
again considerably damaged. 

" Schrs. Hope, Atlas, Ellen, Retrieve, Mercy & 
Hope, Aurora, Mechanic, Harriet, Alphion, and Bal- 
tic, were also badly chafed or otherwise damaged. 

"The ice, driven in from the flats by the heavy 
swell, has swept off nearly or quite all the out-build- 
ings belonging to the houses on the lower side oi 
Water street, from Hale's wharf, down. The two- 
story building at Mr. WoodwelPs carpenter's yard, 
was entirely demolished; a two-story building, be- 
longing to Mr. Brooklings, was also destroyed; and 
several one-story buildings were swept off; the cellars 
of the houses were filled with water, and had the 
storm continued, it would have endangered the safety 
of the houses themselves. 

"The wharves are many of them considerably in- 
jured ; and the docks filled with wood and lumber, of 
which, much, no doubt, will be lost, as there is a heavy 
freshet in the river. 

" The tide flowed into a store on Bailey's wharf, 
where a large quantity of sugar was stored, and dam- 
aged that on the lower part of the store to some 
extent. We learn, also, that some oil was lost from 
Haskell's wharf, and a large number of small boats 
were stove to pieces at the lower end of the town. 

11 The ice from the fiats is piled up on the lower part 
of Water street, so that large quantities of it will have 
to be removed before the road will be passable. 

"It is altogether unprecedented, that three severe 
gales, — two of them heavier than any we have had 
for many years past, — should occur within a period 
of fourteen days." 



384 SHIPWRECKS AND OTHER DISASTERS. 

Gloucester. — An account from Gloucester, states, 
that " the wind of Friday night, Dec. 27, blew a per- 
fect hurricane, and threatened to sweep everything 
before it, as with the besom of destruction. Houses 
were almost made to totter from their very founda- 
tions, and it was a fearful as well as sleepless night to 
thousands of our inhabitants. From 4 to 6 o'clock, in 
the morning, the tempest was at its acme, and the roar 
of sea and wind was truly frightful. Fortunately, 
but few vessels were at anchor in our harbor. Had 
there been as many as there were in the gale of the 
15th, the destruction of life and property must have far 
exceeded anything in the annals of storms. 

" Out of the six or eight vessels that were at anchor 
in the outer habor, four of them went ashore, of 
which we give the following particulars : 

"Brig Richmond Packet, of Deer Isle, from Rich- 
mond for Newburyport, with corn and flour, went 
ashore on the point of rock near the Steep Bank, 
and went entirely to pieces. The crew were all 
saved. Never was a more complete wreck than this. 
The next day there was not a piece as big as your 
hand to be seen of her. But the most melancholy 
part of the story remains to be told : on the vessel's 
striking, the captain jumped overboard with a rope, 
and succeeded in getting safely upon the rocks. 
Having made fast the rope, and when about ready to 
get his wife, who was on board, ashore by its means, 
the brig took a sudden lurch and snapped it ; the lady 
was then let down upon a spar into the water, but 
hardly had she reached the element when a heavy sea 
swept her off, and she was heard and seen no more ! 
Her body was discovered, on the succeeding Monday, 
lying upon the coal in the hold of the sch. Thetis, 
ashore near the same place, where it had been washed 
by the sea, the hatches of the Thetis, as well as her 
companion-way, having been forced open. 

" Brig Aladdin, of North Yarmouth, from Baltimore 
for Portsmouth, with flour and corn, went ashore on 



GLOUCESTER.— PROVINCETOWN. 385 

Half Moon Beach, near the above. Her stern was 
stove in so that the water ran fore and aft in her hold. 
No lives lost. 

" Sch. Thetis, of and for Portland, from Philadel- 
phia, with coal, went ashore close to the Aladdin, and 
bilged. The vessel is a total loss, but the cargo was 
saved. No lives were lost. 

" Sch. Bride, of Eastport, from Georgetown for 
Salem, was run ashore, by the master, on the beach 
near the Cut Road, to save himself from a worse fate. 
She stove her bottom, but was got off, and saved her 
cargo, (corn and flour,) in a damaged state. 

"Sch. St. Cloud, of Blue Hill, Me., from New 
York, for Sullivan, Me., cut away her masts and held 
on." 

Provincetown. — A letter, dated Provincetown, Dec. 
28, says, — 

" Last night and this morning we were visited with 
another violent gale of wind, which has done much 
more damage here than any former gale within the 
recollection of our oldest people. The loss of property 
cannot be estimated at less than $50,000, which prin- 
cipally falls upon the inhabitants of this town. The 
wind blew with great violence, causing the tide to rise 
much higher than usual ; and nearly every vessel that 
was fastened at the wharves, broke loose and drifted 
among the stores and dwellings along shore, demolish- 
ing everything in their way. 

" Mr. Jesse Small lost his store and about one half 
of his stock of English and West India goods. 
Eight or ten other stores, containing fish, were thrown 
down by the vessels, and the fish much damaged. 
About twenty salt mills were blown down, and a vast 
quantity of salt works blown away. Many cellars 
of dwelling-houses were overflowed, and, in some 
instances, the inmates were compelled to leave their 
houses and seek shelter with their more fortunate 
neighbors. Some of the wharves were entirely swept 

33 25 



386 SHIPWRECKS AND OTHER DISASTERS. 

away ; and, in fact, our shores are piled up with 
fragments of wrecks, buildings, barrels of mackerel, 
lumber and spars. 

" The loss to our shipping is immense. Brig Imo- 
gene, (whaler,) it is thought, will be a total loss; 
brig Fanny (whaler) suffered much in her hull ; 
schooners Caroline, Brenda, Amazon, and Alice & 
Nancy, lost their sterns, and received much other 
damage ; schooner Delphi lost most of her sails, and 
had her hull badly damaged; schooner Joseph Helen, 
loaded for New Orleans, lost windlass, bowsprit, fore- 
mast sprung, and badly damaged in her hull; all the 
above are very high up on the beach, and the brigs 
must be screwed up and launched before they get 
off. 

"Sch. Elizabeth Ann, of and for Halifax, from Bos- 
ton, with flour, grapes, raisins, &c, drove ashore and 
sunk. Her decks were under water at high tide, — the 
cargo has been landed in a damaged state. 

" Sch. Clio, from Norfolk, for Boston, drove high up 
on the beach, lost main boom, bowsprit, and received 
other damages. 

"Sch. Planet, from Bath, for Baltimore, with lum- 
ber and pickled fish, is also high up on the beach. 

"Sch. Fleet, loaded for Baltimore, went ashore, 
with both anchors ahead. She drifted afoul of schoon- 
er Clio in the stream, and both vessels came ashore 
together. 

"Sch. Pandora, from New York, for Boston, with 
flour, (fee., went ashore, but did not receive much 
damage. 

" Sch. Althorp, from Richmond, with corn and bread, 
— ashore high and dry. 

" The new schooner, Wm. W. Wyers, for Norfolk, 
high up on the beach. About twenty other vessels, 
principally fishermen, suffered greatly in spars, rig- 
ging, and hulls badly damaged. 

" Brig Wave, from Bath, for Matanzas, having late- 



THE CATHERINE NICHOLS. 387 

ly got off shore at Truro, up high on the beach in this 
harbor. 

" I have heard of no lives lost as yet. Mr. Richard 
Atkins had his leg broken while endeavoring to save 
his property. Mr. Henry Lawrence, of Barnstable, 
of the crew of schooner Rowena, had his leg broken 
and shockingly mangled between two vessels. 

" Mr. Franklin Atkins lost his shop and whole stock 
of leather, shoes, &c., which were swept away by the 
tide." 

Salem. — At Salem the gale was very severe. A 
letter from that place says : 

11 Great damage was done at our wharves last night. 
Several vessels have sunk, and many more driven 
ashore and dismasted. We have heard of no lives 
being lost as yet. The storm was the worst we havo 
had this season." 



WRECK OF THE CATHERINE NICHOLS, 

On Nahant Rocks, in the Gale and Snow Storm of 
December 15, 1839. 

The schooner Catherine Nichols, Capt. Woodward; 
of Charlestown, bound home from Philadelphia, load- 
ed with coal, was wrecked on Nahant, Sunday, Dec. 
15, at 4 o'clock in the afternoon. 

Captain Woodward states that he first made Egg 
Rock, and then ran round into a cove on the south- 
west side of Nahant, and anchored. The wind was 
then favorable, and they were sheltered by the high 
hills from the violence of the tempest; and the crew 
might easily have reached the shore in the boat. 

In about half an hour, the schooner broke adrift, 



Ci 



388 SHIPWRECKS AND OTHER DISASTERS. 

and passed by Baylie's point, struck once heavily, 
and was thrown round on the shelving rocky shore, 
where she immediately went to pieces. With great 
difficulty, and by the assistance of the hospitable in- 
habitants of Nahant, the captain and three of the crew 
got on shore alive ; but one of them, Mr. John Whiton, 
of New Bedford, died before he could be carried to a 
place of shelter. 

The mate clung to the vessel, which was entirely 
broken to pieces, to the last. He died amidst the 
roaring surf; and when found, he was destitute of 
every particle of clothing, except his stock and stock- 
ings, and was washed in among the rocks of that rug- 
ged shore. Mr. Levi Hatch was drowned, or died 
from bruises received before he could reach the shore ; 
he left a wife and two children at North Yarmouth. 
The bodies of these two unfortunate men were taken 
to Lynn, where they were buried. An appropriate 
funeral discourse was preached by Rev. Mr. Cook, 
and a large number of citizens followed the bodies to 
the burying-gronnd. Another of the crew, John Lind- 
say, of Philadelphia, was also lost; but his body was 
not recovered ; when last seen he was clinging to the 
fore rigging, which, with the foremast, drifted ofi* 
to sea. 



WRECK OF THE SCHOONER DEPOSIT, 

On Lakeman's Beach, Ipswich, in the Gale of De- 
cember 15, 1839, 

The schooner Deposit, Captain Cotterell, from Bel- 
fast, Me., went ashore on Lakeman's Beach, in Ips- 
wich Bay, at 12 o'clock, on Sunday night, and four 
of the seven on board perished from cold and expos- 
ure. Great credit is due to Mr. Greenwood, keeper 



THE DEPOSIT. 389 

of the light-houses, to Mr. Marshall, and to others, for 
their noble exertions to rescue the survivers from a 
watery grave, and also to Captain Lakeman and his 
family for their kindness. The particulars of this 
melancholy loss we believe are substantially these: 
Mr. Marshall first discovered the wreck on Monday 
morning, and after giving the alarm, himself and Mr. 
Greenwood repaired to the scene. Although the ves- 
sel was close on shore, a boat could not live for a 
moment in the surf, but Mr. Greenwood dashed into 
the water, and succeeded in reaching the vessel, and 
with a rope, hauled in Mr. Marshall and the boat. 
They found the people on board, among whom was 
the wife of the captain, almost exhausted, the sea 
making almost a continual breach over the vessel. 
The boy was already dead, lying in the scuppers, 
and a negro on board, also, soon after laid down and 
died. The storm was still raging with unabated fury, 
threatening every moment to dash them to pieces ; 
and the piteous cries of those who yet survived in- 
duced the noble-hearted fellows to make an attempt 
for their rescue, desperate as it seemed without fur- 
ther assistance, as they could not live many minutes 
on board. The captain, almost senseless, and com- 
pletely exhausted, was first lowered into the boat with 
Mr. Marshall ; but a wave instantly upset it, dashing 
Marshall under the vessel. He, however, rose to the 
surface, and saved himself by catching hold of a rope ; 
but the captain was drowned, of course, as he was 
incapable of helping himself. 

Mr. Greenwood stated, that the horrors of the storm, 
the sight of the dead around him, and the cries of the 
dying for succor, were as nothing to the terrific 
shrieks of the captain's wife, as she saw her husband 
buried beneath the waters. Two of the crew were 
got ashore, one of them by floating on the boom. The 
bereaved woman was then lowered from the stern by 
ropes, and Messrs. Greenwood and Marshall, standing 
each side of her in the water, took advantage of an 

33* 






390 SHIPWRECKS AND OTHER DISASTERS. 

inward wave, and run her ashore in their arms. The 
three were conveyed to the house of Mr. Lakeman, 
and medical assistance procured. The names of the 
three survivers are Mrs. Cotterell, George Emery and 
Chandler Mahoney. 



WRECK OF THE BRIG POCAHONTAS, 

On Plum Island, December 23, 1839,— with the Loss 
of the Whole Crew, 

On Monday morning, Dec. 23, soon after daylight, 
Capt. Brown, at the hotel on Plum Island, discovered 
the wreck of a vessel, dismasted, on a reef which lies 
one hundred and fifty yards from the beach, and 
nearly half a mile east of the hotel. From the pa- 
pers, trunks, and fragments of the vessel strewed on 
the beach, she was known to be the brig Pocahontas, 
of Newburyport, Capt. James G. Cook, which sailed 
from Cadiz the latter part of October, for that port. 
When first discovered, we learn that three men only 
were seen, one lashed to the taffrail, nearly or quite 
naked, and apparently dead, and two clinging to the 
bowsprit. In a short time, and before the intelli- 
gence had reached town, — the weather being so thick 
that no signals from the island could be seen, — only 
one man, and he clinging to the bowsprit, remained. 
The tremendous sea running, rendered it impossible 
to render any assistance to the only surviver of this 
Ul-fated crew, who maintained his position for some 
ftours, having lost it once and regained it, in sight of 
many people on the beach, who had no power to re- 
lieve him, until he was swept into the surf a second 
time, and was seen no more. 

It appears that the brig must have anchored some 
time in the course of the night, and being too near 



THE POCAHONTAS. 



391 



the shore for good holding ground, dragged from her 
anchors and went stern foremost on the reef, where 
she thumped until her stern was stove in, and the 
fearful breach which the sea made continued to tear 




Wreck of the Pocahontas. 

her in pieces, until nothing but the skeleton of what 
~was once a noble vessel remained. 

When she came into the bay, and whether those on 
board knew her position during the gale; whether 
the majority of them were swept off together, or one 
by one, being overpowered by the intensity of the cold 
and the violence of the sea, will never be known, as 
not one of the twelve or thirteen souls on board is left 
to tell the sad tale. 

Among Capt. Cook's papers, washed ashore from 
the brig Pocahontas, the following list, with accounts 
annexed, was found, the two first being the names of 
the captain and mate, and the others probably those 
of the crew: James G. Cook, Albert Cook, Simon 
Day, Samuel Johnson, Wm. Merriam, Wm. Floyed, 
John Peterson, John Smith, Moses Woodman, Peter 
Johnson, Henry Ellis, John Wilson, Wm. Wails. 



392 SHIPWRECKS AND OTHER DISASTERS. 

The funeral of Mr. Cook, the first officer of the Po- 
cahontas, and seven of the crew, whose bodies had 
been found, took place from the Federal street church, 
in Newburyport. The house was filled with an im- 
mense concourse of people, not less, probably, than 
two thousand and five hundred in number. The cof- 
fins were placed in the broad aisle, and an American 
ensign thrown over each. After the close of the exer- 
cises at the church, a procession of several hundred 
citizens formed, notwithstanding the severity of one 
of the coldest days of winter, and proceeded with the 
bodies to the grave, while all the bells in town were 
tolled, and the flags were displayed at half mast. 

The following is a brief summary of the loss of 
property and life in the gales of December and the first 
part of January : 

"In the first two weeks of December, eight vessels 
were lost, mostly on our eastern coast. On Sabbath, 
the 15th of December, it will long be recollected that 
there was a severe snow storm, accompanied, on the 
eastern shore of Massachusetts, with a violent gale "of 
wind. In that single storm no less than eighty-nine 
vessels were totally lost, together with about ninety 
lives. Of these shipwrecks, sixty-one were at or 
near Cape Ann ; twenty-one around Boston harbor and 
Cape Cod ; and the remainder at other places not far 
distant. From that time until the close of the month, 
the total losses which have already been reported, 
amount to eighty-four vessels, and eighty-nine lives. 

"Some of these losses will long be remembered, 
SUch as the wreck of the Pocahontas on Plum Island, 
with the loss of her whole crew ; and the loss of the 
Lloyd on Nantasket Beach, where but one man es- 
caped to tell the melancholy tale. From the 1st to 
the 15th of January, the loss of eleven vessels had 
already been reported, with the loss of about two hun- 
dred and fifty-five men, allowing one hundred and 
fifty to be the number lost in the Lexington. Putting 



THE BOSTON. 393 

these numbers together, we have a total of one hun- 
dred and ninety-two vessels entirely lost, in the short 
space of six weeks, and about three hundred and forty 
lives." 



BURNING OF THE PACKET-SHIP BOSTON, 

On her Passage from Charleston, S. C, to Liver- 
pool, on the 25th of May, 1830. 

The packet-ship Boston, Capt. H. C. Mackay, 
sailed from Charleston on the 19th of May. On the 
sixth day out, at 2 o'clock in the afternoon, a heavy 
rain commenced, and at 11 o'clock the same evening, 
there was sharp lightning, with heavy thunder. The 
second flash struck the ship, burst the main royal 
from the gaskets and burnt it. — knocked down the 
steward, and a sailor by the name of Hopkins, and 
rilled the vessel with electric fluid. The ship was 
soon after discovered to be on fire, and the hatchways 
were immediately cleared in order to get at and sub- 
due it. Holes were cut in the deck, and water plied 
freely in every direction, — but all was useless: the 
cotton in the main hold was on fire on both sides, fore 
and aft, and burning like tinder. The only alterna- 
tive was the boats, which were got out as speedily as 
possible. The fire had progressed so rapidly, that there 
was barely time for the passengers and crew to get 
clear of the ship before the flames burst out. They 
had, however, succeeded in obtaining water and pro- 
visions sufficient to sustain them, on short allowance, 
for about three weeks. 

Capt. Mackay thus remarked : " The passengers 
had exerted themselves to the utmost to assist us. 
The officers had, with unwearied exertion, coolness 
and activity, done all that men could do. The ship's 



394 SHIPWRECKS AND OTHER DISASTERS. 

crew worked like horses and behaved like men,— but 
all would not do. About three hours had changed 
one of the best ships that ever floated to a complete 
volcano, and cast twenty-three persons adrift on the 
open ocean." 

The cabin passengers were, Sir Isaac Coffin, and 
servant ; Dr. William Bogue, and his sister, Miss 
Ansella Bogue; Mr. Neil McNeil, and Mr. Samuel 
Osgood. 

Owing to the heavy rain and exposure, while in the 
boat, the shattered constitution of Miss Bogue, who 
was an invalid, soon gave way. To the divine will 
she submitted without a murmur, and, at 11 o'clock 
the next day, she died in the arms of her brother. 
On the following day she was committed to the deep ; 
their situation not admitting of the corpse being kept 
longer in the boat. 

They remained near the fire of the wreck for two 
days. At 3 o'clock in the afternoon of Thursday, 
they were fortunately discovered and taken on board 
the brig Idas, of Liverpool, bound for Halifax, and 
commanded by Capt. Joseph Barnaby, who, with his 
officers and crew, treated them with kindness and 
attention. They had remained on board the brig but 
two days, when, on the succeeding Sunday, May 30, 
they fell in with the brig Camilla, Capt. Robert B. 
Edes, who generously offered them a passage to Bos- 
ton, and received them on board his vessel. 

We give the following highly interesting and graphic 
account of this event, written by a gentleman who 
was a passenger on board ; and though he has not 
summoned up all the horrors of the scene, which have 
been retailed in conversation, he has been sufficiently 
minute, and imparted a degree of interest not often 
found in narratives of this kind : 

"We left the shore with joy in our hearts, for the 
sun shone brightly, and the wind was fair. Joy, did 



THE BOSTON. 395 

I say ? Yet there was a slight shade of sadness so 
blended with it, that I am not certain it would have 
been so welcome without. As our vessel glided 
along, we watched the dancing waves as they rose, 
broke, foamed, and then died away ; and the sporting 
porpoises, too, as they gamboled in the foam beneath 
our bows. The wind grew fainter, and the dolphins 
swam close to the vessel. Occasionally, a whale was 
seen to spout up water, and to raise its broad tail to 
the surface of the now tranquil ocean. At length the 
breeze wholly ceased, and all was still, save the flap- 
ping of the sails, that enemy of the sailor's speed. 
The scene was indeed changed, from the animation of 
the spray-crested wave to the grave undulation of the 
unexcited ocean. 

"At last, the passengers, one after another, went 
below, until but one solitary being, besides the man at 
the helm, remained on the quarter-deck. This was 
the captain. His weather-beaten face and silvered 
hair were enough to convince you, at a glance, of his 
experience in navigation. To him we naturally 
looked, as to a barometer, to ascertain the state of the 
atmosphere, which, it must be acknowledged, at least 
to the suspicions of one among us, indicated nothing 
favorable. 

"I had, but a few years before, been a common 
sailor, and from the manner of the several captains 
with whom I had sailed, had observed enough to 
know that danger was at hand, by the silence and 
restlessness of our own, as he paced the deck, now 
glancing at the heavens, now heading the ship in 
another direction, — again looking at some dark clouds 
rising above the western horizon, and next, in a voice 
of thunder, ordering the royals to be furled, and the 
top-gallant studdingsails to be taken in. This order 
quickly confirmed my suspicions, and brought two of 
our unsleeping passengers to the deck, who, perceiv- 
ing, in the calm, clear sky overhead, no cause for the 
order, retreated again to the cabin. But the practised 



396 SHIPWRECKS AND OTHER DISASTERS. 

eye of the captain saw not only the storm, but its 
rapid approach towards the vessel; and before his 
commands could be obeyed, the gale struck, and car- 
ried away both starboard and larboard booms. All 
hands were called up, and, almost as soon as said, the 
main and top-gallant sails were clewed up, and every 
thing put in trim to stand the gale ; for, from the way 
in which it had set in, we had every reason to antici- 
pate its rapid increase. We were not disappointed. 
Ere 12 o'clock the next day, the noble ship, on which 
but yesterday was crowded all sail to catch the lag- 
ging wind, was barely able to scud before the blast 
under bare poles. But we weathered the gale, which 
lulled towards night ; and the sky, so lately overcast 
by dark clouds, became clearer and clearer, till not a 
shade was visible in the face of the broad heavens. 

" We had been watching the sun as it appeared to 
descend directly into the sea, until it could no longer 
be seen. When we turned away, our attention was 
arrested by a small, dense, black cloud which had 
arisen above the southeastern horizon. After passing 
our comments on so singular a phenomenon, most of us 
went below, to while away the hours in reading, play- 
ing at whist, or some other amusement, until tea time, 
when one of our number, who had been on deck, 
returned, and half-seriously observed, ' That dark 
cloud forebodes no good ! ' At 10 o'clock a sharp flash 
of lightning blazed on our bark, followed quickly by 
a loud peal of thunder. Soon after, a tremendous 
crash was heard, like the falling of ten thousand 
grape shot on the deck, directly over our heads. At 
the same time, everything seemed enveloped in one 
bright flame. The passengers looked at one another 
in wild amazement. A few shrieks followed the fatal 
shock, and a silence, as of death, succeeded. 

" When we had recovered our faculties sufficiently 
to look about, we found the captain and the mate 
bringing from the deck one of the seamen in a state 
of insensibility. He had been knocked down, with 



THE BOSTON. 397 

several others, by the electric fluid, but soon revived 
by the application of a dose from the medicine chest. 
It was ascertained that none of the men had sustained 
material injury. The deck was carefully examined, 
but no incision could be found, nor could any traces 
of the lightning be perceived on the masts or rigging, 
except by the main-royal gaskets being severed, and 
the sail loosed, without so much as being even singed. 

" The captain came below, assured us that all was 
safe, and proposed a game at whist, to remove the too 
painful impression of the shock. Every one retired 
to his state-room, from which we were soon attracted 
by the smell of fire. We rushed to the deck. From 
the after hold the smoke was rising fast. The hatch- 
ways were removed, and the ship was found to be on 
fire. Holes were cut in the deck, the scuppers 
stopped, and the water-casks stove in. Water was 
passed in buckets from the side, and plied into the 
hatchways. The passengers and crew were all 
busily engaged. A few of the closely-stowed bales of 
cotton were broken out, and it was discovered that 
the lightning had passed into the hold, torn open the 
bales from one end of the ship to the other, and left 
them in a blaze. The fire gained upon us rapidly, 
and the boats were now our only hope of safety. 
One of the passengers went to the pantry, with a pil- 
low-case, in which he collected all the bread he could 
find. 

" A part of the crew now set themselves to getting 
the long-boat over the side. They had barely cleared 
it from the rail, when the half-consumed tackle gave 
way. It was with no little difficulty that it was 
saved. The passengers and crew, with the exception 
of Captain M. and myself, took possession of the boat, 
and were soon at some distance astern of the ship. 
We were left on the quarter-deck, standing, as it were, 
over a volcano, expecting every moment that the 
planks would be rent from their fastenings, so great 
was the roar and crackling of the flames m consum- 

34 



398 SHIPWRECKS AND OTHER DISASTERS. 

ing the elegantly finished cabin. But even this pre- 
carious footing was not long allowed us. The ship, 
no longer obedient to her helm, swung round, in con 
sequence of which the flames turned upon us, and Ave 
were compelled to fly to the deep, as the least of the 
two evils ; but, fortunately, the whale-boat tackle ar- 
rested not only the eye, but the hands of the captain, 
as he was in the act of leaping into the sea, from which 
he was taken almost immediately. My fate was not 
so agreeable. I had caught at some loose rigging 
hanging over the stern, by which I was suspended, 
being immersed alternately in fire and water, by the 
descending flames from the cabin windows, as the 
stern of the vessel rose on the wave that had just 
drenched me. Although I was discovered as soon as 
I had left the deck, it was some time before the long- 
boat could come to my relief; and when she did, it 
was not without great danger to those in her, from 
the roughness of the sea and the heat of the fire. 

" The captain was taken from the jolly into the 
long-boat, which he ordered round under the weather- 
bow, and, with two or three men, ascended to the fore- 
castle, to get some water from the fore-run. While 
the men were passing it from the vessel, the captain 
was sitting on the rail, near the anchor, holding the 
boat by the painter. At this time the main and mizen 
masts were tottering in the air. Fortunately, they 
yielded beneath their own weight, as the vessel rolled 
to windward, and fell in the opposite direction: and the 
fore-braces being fast, the fore-yard was snapped short 
off in the slings. The weather-arm of this immense 
spar fell within an inch of the captain's head ; but he, 
with that self-possession which characterized him 
throughout the whole of this fearful catastrophe, se- 
cured the boat, took the fore-top bow-line, went out 
to the bowsprit, and by tying it to the fore-stay, pre- 
vented the yard-arm from swinging. This done, he 
resumed his seat, till the men were driven from their 
task by the devouring element. 



THE BOSTON. 399 

"The captain was the last to leave the ship. At 
three o'clock in the morning, there were twenty-three 
of us, including the crew and passengers, on the bosom 
of the ocean, in open boats, three hundred and sixty- 
miles from land. Yet even this did not prevent some 
admiring the sublime scene ; and one, I know, wished 
his colors and pencils to sketch it, as the ship was 
tossed on the restless wave, high up against the 
gloomy sky. 

" All that day the sea ran mountains high. A third 
of a biscuit, and a gill of water, which was to be our 
daily allowance, was eagerly devoured: but it ap- 
peased our appetites, sharpened by hard labor, and 
suffering from the intensely-piercing north wind, 
which incessantly swept over our unsheltered heads. 
But a colder comfort was in anticipation. In a few 
short days, one, but which ? — the lot would decide — 
must be sacrificed to satisfy the hunger of the others. 
It was not difficult to imagine the cold steel penetra- 
ting the heart of the unfortunate victim, to sever the 
thread of dear existence. 

" The wind went down with the sun, the clouds 
faded from the heavens, and the moon smiled on us, 
as we lay upon the heaving swell that always follows 
a storm. Not far off, the ill-fated ship, still uncon- 
sumed, threw her lurid light upon the pale faces of 
my companions. Dejection had humbled the heads 
of some, till, their chins resting upon their bosoms, 
they were buried in melancholy reflections. No hope 
of ever seeing home could they reasonably entertain. 
We were far out of the usual track of vessels going to 
and from Europe; and unless some ship that had 
been blown off her course should be attracted by the 
light of the ship that night, our intention was to steer 
for Halifax. Nova Scotia, that being the nearest land. 
We endeavored to sleep, but being crowded into so 
small a space, it was impossible. When daylight 
dawned, every one was on the alert. The horizon 
was scanned in every direction, but no sail appeared 



400 SHIPWRECKS AND OTHER DISASTERS. 

to gladden our hearts ; and those in the whale-boats 
were requested, — for misfortune had made all equal in 
authority, — to go and get some light sails from the 
wreck. They soon returned with a supply of royals, 
studding-sails, boom-irons, and other useful matters. 

"The seamen now engaged in rigging sails to 
masts made of the boats' oars. The bread and water 
were divided between the three boats, in case they 
should be separated; and the prows were scarcely 
headed for Nova Scotia, when the first mate roused 
us by the joyful cry of ' Sail ho ! ' on the starboard 
quarter. The whale-boat, being the lightest, was 
selected to run down to the distant sail, which the 
captain perceived, with the aid of his glass, to be a 
brig, apparently close hauled to "the wind. Fears 
were entertained that she was beating against the 
wind, and might go about on the other tack ere we 
were discovered. We followed leisurely, and with 
inconceivable alarm beheld, when the advance boat 
was near the brig, the smoke, and presently heard 
the report, of a gun. Dismay took possession of our 
souls, which somewhat abated when we perceived 
that the whale-boat steadily pursued her way toward 
the imagined enemy. The interest with which we 
watched grew more intense every moment, until we 
saw our comrades ascend the side, and the light thing 
that bore them drawn to the deck by the hands of a 
stranger vessel. Our turn came next ; and never was 
a more friendly reception given to the unfortunate, 
than was extended to us by the generous-hearted Eng- 
lishman who commanded the brig. Long before the 
second boat reached the side, the captain had ordered 
his cook to provide us a dinner of the best the pantry 
afforded. The long-boat was dropped astern, and 
made fast to the taffrail, and the jolly-boat followed 
the first. 

" Dinner was soon announced ; and, whilst we were 
doing it justice, in the simplicity of his heart, the cap- 
tain acknowledged himself to be one of those numer- 



U. S. SHIP PEACOCK. 401 

ous coasters on the American shore, who, never hav- 
ing studied navigation, take a bundle of shingles 
when about to leave port, to distribute on the trip out, 
that they may be enabled to find their way back. 
He told us that he discovered the smoke rising from 
what he supposed to be the low land of the West In- 
dies, about 12 o'clock, and calling for his spy-glass, 
ascended to the top. Perceiving a vessel burning, 
and at the same time three boats making towards 
him, he concluded, at once, that we were pirates, 
who, after robbing the ship, had set fire to her. With 
this supposition, he had ordered his mate to load the 
gun and fire it, to apprize us that he was not without 
ammunition to defend the brig. 

"The third day after our deliverance we fell in 
with a vessel bound to Boston. Bidding Captain 
Barnaby farewell, and thanking him for his hospi- 
tality, we took our own long-boat, which had been 
towing astern, and went on board the other brig. In 
two days the Camilla bore us into Boston, where the 
packet belonged, to inform the owners of their loss. 
The news spread like wildfire ; and, before we reached 
the wharf, thousands had collected to see the unhappy 
sufferers. ■ 



INTERESTING NARRATIVE 

Of the Miraculous Escape of the United States ship 
Peacock from Shipwreck, after striking anil 
grounding on a Coral Reef, September 21, 1835. 

The following account is extracted from the journal 
of an officer of the United States ship Peacock : 

" About twenty minutes past 2 o'clock, on the morn- 
ing of the 21st of September, all hands, except the 
watch on deck, were roused from unsuspecting sleep 
by a horrid noise, caused by the ship's bottom grind- 

34* 26 



402 SHIPWRECKS AND OTHER DISASTERS. 

ing and tearing over a bed of coral rocks. The ship 
was running at the rate of seven and a half miles the 
hour when she struck. 

"As the ship no longer moved forward, but lay 
floundering, as it were, from side to side, all sail was 
taken in, and an officer sent out to ascertain in what 
direction was the deepest water. In the mean time, 
the boats were hoisted out and an anchor got into one 
of them ; and on the return of the officer who had 
been sent to sound, it was carried about three hun- 
dred yards to the westward, where there Avas suffi- 
cient depth to float us, and there dropped, with the 
view of heaving off the ship. As the most speedy and 
ready means of lightening the ship, about five thou- 
sand gallons of water were pumped overboard — but it 
was in vain. 

"When the tide rose, efforts were again made to 
heave the ship off, but were unsuccessful. Deeming 
our case now to be almost hopeless, a boat was got 
ready and sent early the following morning, under the 
command of passed-midship N man Taylor, bearing a 
treaty, for Muscat, to obtain means of carrying off the 
officers and crew, in the event of not being able to get 
the ship afloat. The sea was so smooth that we did 
not apprehend that the ship would soon go to pieces, 
but there was much to be feared from the Arabs. 

" On Tuesday morn, the 22d, the work of lighten- 
ing was continued, and we saw, with feelings of re- 
gret, one half of our guns cast into the sea ; but we 
had the pleasure to find that the ship moved and got 
into rather deeper water. The moment she began to 
move, new life was infused into all hands, and the 
men broke forth in a song and chorus, to which they 
kept time as they, marched round the capstan, or 
hauled in the hawser by hand. 

"At 2, P. M., we anchored in three and a half 
fathoms water, yet the distance was so great to where 
the water was deep enough to make sail, that we were 
by no means sure of getting off. 

" fhe next morning, having laid a kedge well ou$ 



- 



BURNING OF A LIGHT-HOUSE. 405 

to windward which was off shore, and having hoisted 
the topsail yards to the mast-heads, we hove up the 
anchors. The ship was well off the shore, but the 
water was only three and a quarter fathoms deep. 
The topsails were let fall and spread with great celer- 
ity, and at the same instant the back-rope of the kedge 
was cut, leaving us once more under the influence of 
our canvass. At 6 o'clock we had beat off several 
miles, and anchored in six fathoms of water, with the 
island of Mazeira in sight, showing us that we were 
between it and the main. 

u Early on the 24th, we got under way, and beat 
off the Gulf of Mazeira. At sunset, the southern ex- 
tremity of the island was astern, and a last cast of the 
lead gave us thirty fathoms in an open sea, after hav- 
ing been grinding the coral for fifty-six hours." 



A THRILLING DESCRIPTION 

Of the Burning of the Light-house on Cape Flor- 
ida, by the Seminole Indians, and the Miracu- 
lous Escape of Mr, Thompson, the keeper, July 
23, 1836, 

The following account was written by Mr. Thomp- 
son, the keeper of the light-house, at the time : — 

"On the 23d of July, about 4 o'clock in the after- 
noon, as I was going fmm the kitchen to the dwelling- 
house, I discovered a large body of Indians within 
twenty yards of me, back of the kitchen. I ran for 
the light-house, and called out to the old negro man 
that was with me to run, for the Indians were near. 
At that moment they discharged a volley of rifle balls, 
which cut my clothes and hat, and perforated the 
door in many places. We got in ; and, as I was turn- 



406 BURNING OF A LIGHT-HOUSE. 

ing the key, the savages had hold of the door. I sta- 
tioned the negro at the door, with orders to let me 
know if they attempted to break in ; and then took 
my three muskets, which were loaded with balls and 
buckshot, and went to the second window. Seeing 
a large body of them opposite the dwelling-house, I 
discharged my muskets in succession amongst them, 
which put them in some confusion. They then, for the 
second time, began their horrid yells, and in a 
minute no sash or glass was left in that window, for 
they vented their rage at that spot. I fired at them 
from some of the other windows, and from the top of 
the house. In fact, I fired whenever I could get an 
Indian for a mark. I kept them from the house until 
dark. 

" They then poured in a heavy fire at all the win- 
dows and lantern ; and at the same time set fire to 
the door and the window even with the ground ; the 
window was boarded up with plank, and filled up 
with stones inside ; but the flames spread fast by being 
fed with yellow pine wood. Their balls had perforated 
the tin tanks of oil, consisting of two hundred and 
twenty-five gallons. My bedding, clothing, and, in fact, 
everything I had, was soaked in oil. I stopped at the 
door until driven away by the flames, and then took a 
keg of gunpowder, my balls, and one musket, to the top 
of the house; then went below, and began to cut away 
the stairs about half way up from the bottom. I had 
difficulty in getting the old negro man up the space I 
had already cut ; but the flames now drove me from 
my labor, and I retreated to the top of the house. I 
covered over the scuttle that leads to the lantern, 
which kept the fire from me for some time. At last 
the awful moment arrived ; the crackling flames burst 
around me ; the savages at the same time began their 
hellish yells. My poor old negro looked up to me with 
tears in his eyes, but could not speak. We went out 
of the lantern, and laid down on the edge of the plat- 
form, which is two feet wide. The lantern was now 



BURNING OF A LIGHT-HOUSE. 407 

full of flame, — thelamps and glasses bursting and flying 
in all directions, — my clothes on fire, — and to move 
from the place where I was, would be instant death 
from their rifles. My flesh was roasting ; and to put 
an end to my horrible suffering, I got up, threw the keg 
of gunpowder down the scuttle. It instantly exploded, 
and shook the tower from the top to the bottom. It 
had not, however, the desired effect of blowing me to 
eternity : but it threw down the stairs, and all the 
wooden work near the top of the house, and damped 
the fire for a moment, but it soon blazed as fierce as 
ever. The negro man said he was wounded ; it was 
the last word he spoke. 

" By this time I had received some wounds myself ; 
and finding no chance for my life, for I was roasting 
alive, I took the determination to jump off. I got up, 
went outside the iron railing, recommended my soul 
to God, and was on the point of going head foremost 
on the rocks below, when something dictated to me to 
return and lay down again ; which I did, and in two 
minutes the fire fell to the bottom of the house. It is 
a remarkable circumstance that not one ball struck 
me when I stood up outside the railing, although they 
were flying all around me like hail-stones. I found 
the old negro man dead, being shot in several places, 
and literally roasted. 

" A few minutes after the fire fell, a stiff breeze 
sprung up from the southward, which was a great 
blessing to me. I had to lay where I was, for I could 
not walk, having received six rifle balls, three in each 
foot. 

" The next morning, after loading my little sloop 
with plunder, about ten or twelve Indians went into her; 
the rest took to the beach, to meet at the other end of 
the -island. This happened, as I judge, about 10 
o'clock in the forenoon. 

" My eyes being much affected, prevented me from 
knowing their actual force, but I judged there were 
about forty or fifty, perhaps more. Twas now almost 



408 BURNING OP A LIGHT-HOUSE. 

as bad off as before ; — a burning fever on me, my feet 
shot to pieces, no clothes to cover me, nothing to eat or 
drink, a hot sun overhead, a dead man by my side, no 
friend near, or any to expect, and placed between 
seventy and eighty feet from the earth, and no chance 
of getting down, — my situation was truly horrible. 
About 12 o'clock, I thought I could perceive a vessel 
not far off; I took a piece of the old negro's trowsers, 
that had escaped the flames by being wet with blood, 
and made a signal. 

"Some time in the course of the afternoon, I saw 
two boats, with my sloop in tow, coming to the land- 
ing. I had no doubt but they were Indians, having 
seen my signal, and had returned to finish their mur- 
derous design; but it proved to be the boats of the 
United States schooner Motto, Captain Armstrong, 
with a detachment of seamen and marines, under the 
command of Lieutenant Lloyd, of the sloop-of-war 
Concord. They had re-taken my sloop, after the 
Indians had stripped her of her sails and rigging, and 
everything of consequence belonging to her. They 
informed me that they heard the explosion twelve miles 
off, and ran down to my assistance, but did not expect 
to. find me alive. They did all in their power to 
relieve me, but, night coming on, they returned on 
board the Motto, after assuring me of their assistance 
in the morning. 

"Next morning, Monday, July 25, three boats 
landed, amongst them, Capt. Cole, of the schooner 
Pee Dee, from New York. They had made a kite 
during the night, to get a line to me, but without 
effect. They then fired twine from their muskets, 
made fast to a ramrod, which I received, and hauled 
up to a tail block, and made fast round an iron stan- 
cheon, drove the twine through the block, and they 
below, by that means, rove a two-inch rope, and 
hoisted up two men, who- soon landacLone on terra 
firma." jj 21 I m <>>* ' 

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